Microburst

Microbursts are downbursts <4 km across. Two flavours:

• Wet microburst — rain-loaded downdraft under a high-CAPE pulse storm.
• Dry microburst — evaporatively cooled air collapses through a deep dry layer (inverted-V sounding); the surface sees the wind without rain.

Damage pattern is radial and divergent, distinguishing it from tornado damage (convergent). Aviation risk is severe: microbursts crashed multiple airliners in the 1970s–80s before Doppler wind-shear systems were installed at US airports.