Livingston’s Microburst Storm Event Saw Wind Speeds Up To 85MPH

A strong wind event unexpectedly caused widespread damage in Livingston Saturday night.

The microburst event caused an estimated $2 million in damage to buildings and homes.

Nashville National Weather Service Meteorologist Matt Reagan said that a microburst requires two things: instability in the air, and a lack of wind shear.

“What happened was there wasn’t much shear in the atmosphere in the air but there was a lot of instability,” Reagan said. “So the storm was able to lift a lot of moisture which turns into rain and hail. And with there being a lack of sheer, what that means is all that stuff falls down pretty much the same time as the storm collapses.”

Reagan said that collapse can cause intense winds, which occurred that evening in Livingston. He said they measured straight-line wind speeds of about 80 to 85 miles per hour, which almost reaches the status of an EF-1 tornado.

Reagan said that the storm moved unusually, going from north to south. He said that the tall storm Reagan said that storm cells of this nature are pretty common throughout Middle Tennessee.

“We usually have a lot of shear wind energy as we get into late fall, winter and spring,” Reagan said. “But as you know in the summer the air is really stagnant and still. And that lack of wind shear causes that, when stuff falls out, the rain and the hail, everything kind of collapses at once, kind of in the same area.