Tornado in Homestead? Not quite — here’s what really caused all that heavy wind
MIAMI — People who call Homestead and the Redlands home were shocked to see and feel heavy strong winds on Wednesday afternoon, with some believing a tornado touched down in the area.
However, there were no tornadoes in South Florida at that time. But what was all that wind?
“We had a pretty interesting downburst windstorm that produced straight-line wind damage,” said CBS News Miami’s NEXT Weather Meteorologist Cindy Preszler, adding that the winds were so strong that they uprooted a large tree near 280th Street and 187th Avenue.
So then what are downbursts and straight-line winds?
What are straight-line winds and downbursts? Air brought down rapidly to the surface from a storm’s downdraft.
As opposed to a tornado, these winds spread out in one direction hence the term straight-line winds.
This diagram depicts this well: pic.twitter.com/yyoIt80TQ2
— NWS Miami (@NWSMiami) July 11, 2024
When air is brought down rapidly to the ground from a storm’s downdraft, that creates downbursts, the National Weather Service explained on X. Winds reported in Homestead were estimated to have reached nearly 50 mph.
As opposed to a tornado, these winds spread out in one direction — hence the term “straight-line” winds, the NWS added.
