Microburst near Amarillo, Texas. Image from the National Severe Storms Laboratory. Credit: Jason Boggs.
Phoenix, Arizona, is not known for strong winds, but that all changes when monsoons annually deliver destructive downdrafts like the one that damaged its five-story Burton Barr Central Library. In this piece, and in the interview that follows it, I clear up some of the confusion that still whirls around these blasts.
Ignore the shadow of the lowland marmot at your peril! (Or not). Photo by Anthony Quintano.
Weather. It can destroy homes and harvests, shut down entire regions and re-sculpt coastlines in a matter of hours. It’s small wonder we tend to be a bit superstitious about the subject, or that we’re loath to let go of the received wisdom of family, friends and the Old Farmer’s Almanac.
Then again, maybe those old wives tales contain a kernel of truth. Sometimes there’s a reason to the rhyme, as I reveal in this list of …
