How strong can thunderstorm winds be without a tornado?
Wind speeds above 120 mph in downbursts are not that uncommon. Downburst winds were clocked at 136 mph at Grissom Air Force Base, Indiana in 1995, with some estimates as high as 140 mph in Miami County, IN. The highest recorded thunderstorm microburst wind ever clocked was a 149.5 mph gust which struck Andrews Air Force Base near Washington, DC, causing considerable damage… and occurred just five minutes after President Reagan landed in Air Force One. How much does a rainstorm weigh? One inch of rainfall over an acre of land weighs 226,000 pounds. If that same rainstorm occurs uniformly over a ten by ten mile area, a relatively modest size for a shower, we are dealing with 7.2 million tons of rain water. How many thunderstorms occur each year? Nearly 2000 thunderstorm cells are estimated to be present over the planet at any given time. It is estimated that globally there are 16 million thunderstorms each year. In the United States, central Florida has almost 100 thunderstorm days ann
