- Ask the Meteorologist: Did a tornado hit Johnston County Saturday night?
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Ask the Meteorologist: Did a tornado hit Johnston County Saturday night?
Storms in places like Angier and Johnston County produced hail
that coated the ground and wind damage.
Viewer photos like this one from Jill Parker show the tree
damage in McGees Crossroads.
Other WRAL Top Stories
Another photo – pictured below – shows the hail that looked
more like a dusting of snow in Angier. Thanks to Natalie Kulesza for sending this to us via ReportIt.
Was it a tornado, though?
Though the wind and the damage may make it feel like you
went through a twister, it’s unlikely that was the case Saturday night.
When looking at radar data from the time of the storm, you
see the air diverging at the site of the storm. This is a textbook example of a
downburst/microburst.
We
explained this in a previous Ask the Meteorologist. Ironically enough, that
storm happened in Johnston County too.
Downbursts/microbursts can be just as (if not more) damaging
as a tornado, so that’s not downplaying the severity of the storm that blew
through Saturday night.
Have questions about the weather and how it works?
Send me
an email with the subject line ‘Ask the Meteorologist:’ to cmichaels@wral.com.