MicroBurst or Convection Downdraft

[Brdofpray]

Life is interesting! I was sitting in our great room enjoying an adult beverage watching baseball, when an intense storm blew through the neighborhood. Behind me, I heard, what sounded like an explosion. Turning around, this tree blew through the window of our dining room. It took out the railing of my grill porch, smashed the grill, chairs, planter boxes, and worst of all, destroyed a hummingbird feeder! The eave is compromised, the gutters, and gutter guards are wrecked. They are still checking the roof gable, and roof decking.

I am now dealing with insurance adjusters, and contractors. Even though it was my neighbors healthy tree (no indication that this tree might ever fall), and it hit my house, my insurance pays. Its a South Carolina thing. My neighbor is not happy, and wants to do what ever is needed to help. Even with the damage, if the tree had been ten feet closer, we would have had the tree through the house. We count ourselves lucky.

 

[JoeWras]

Thunderstorm outflows can have amazing power! So sorry you got whacked. I think the trees have wet feet this year (east of the Mississippi) and are vulnerable. We really have to watch hurricane season. Even a small storm could be really tough. This happened in central NC during 1996 Fran. A wet summer was followed by a tough storm. Trees down everywhere. All the neighbors "shared" each other's trees.

I think it is pretty standard that a tree fall doesn't matter where the tree was rooted when it comes to acts of nature. The only exception is neglect, which is hard to prove.

Imagine if the source of every object were to blame for insurance. Consider a tornado. A tree, or car, or piece of house from a neighbor a block away could damage your house. Hard to claim their insurance for that.

 

[MRG]

Wow. Glad you don't have more damage.

We had a home in a grove of trees in MO. In 2002 there was a bad ice storm for an entire day. During the day I heard pop, bang! Sounded like high powered rifle fire. Nah, it was trees popping off in the distance. That night the ones around the house started popping.

We had 3 guys trimming trees for 3 weeks. Looked like a war. Unfortunately insurance didn't cover the removal of trees that didn't hit structures.

 

[JoeWras]

MRG: in MO, were these "v-shaped" trees or more "mushroom" shaped?

I think I was more concerned and amazed by the ice storm noise than the hurricane noise. When the tall Carolina long leaf pines get ice, you get a "snap/shot", then a few seconds later the "shell" hits with a low explosive boom. Huge branches breaking off loaded with ice become literal bombs as they hit the ground. That was one scary night. The ice did as much damage as a hurricane. It took 10 years for the trees to recover from all that damage.

 

[MRG]

MRG: in MO, were these "v-shaped" trees or more "mushroom" shaped?

I think I was more concerned and amazed by the ice storm noise than the hurricane noise. When the tall Carolina long leaf pines get ice, you get a "snap/shot", then a few seconds later the "shell" hits with a low explosive boom. Huge branches breaking off loaded with ice become literal bombs as they hit the ground. That was one scary night. The ice did as much damage as a hurricane. It took 10 years for the trees to recover from all that damage.

They were all Osage Orange, AKA Hedge. When you get used to cutting hedge with a saw and stick your saw into oak or hickory it's like cutting butter.


https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maclura_pomifera

 

[JoeWras]

They were all Osage Orange, AKA Hedge. When you get used to cutting hedge with a saw and stick your saw into oak or hickory it's like cutting butter.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maclura_pomifera

Ah, as a kid, we called these "brain trees."

Brdofprey and a few others of us in the southeast have to deal with these incredibly tall trees, usually pines. I have a love-hate with them. They are beautiful, but they fall hard. Whether it is branches loaded with ice, or the whole thing uprooting, they can cause a lot of damage.

Funny thing is our 40 year old neighborhood is 'hot' right now. The new neighbors tell us they love the mature look compared to the strip-mined new neighborhoods. So, yeah, nice. But wait until the next storm.

 

[Mr._Graybeard]

We had a bad storm roll through about 20 years ago. It tore a 30-foot soft maple out by the roots. I was sadder to see a line of old red cedars snapped off like matchsticks -- I still miss those trees.

Silver maples can get big in a hurry, but their roots aren't anchored very deep. I have seen a number of them uprooted by a big wind.

 

[pacergal]

Wow! thankfully you were not injured.

 

[MRG]

Ah, as a kid, we called these "brain trees."

Brdofprey and a few others of us in the southeast have to deal with these incredibly tall trees, usually pines. I have a love-hate with them. They are beautiful, but they fall hard. Whether it is branches loaded with ice, or the whole thing uprooting, they can cause a lot of damage.

Funny thing is our 40 year old neighborhood is 'hot' right now. The new neighbors tell us they love the mature look compared to the strip-mined new neighborhoods. So, yeah, nice. But wait until the next storm.

Never heard of a brain tree, except up by Boston.

We live in Ponderosa Pines now, I grew up in the mountains of PA with beautiful pines, hemlock, and mixed hardwoods. Spent 10 years in the lumber industry doing everything from buying trees on the stump, logging, milling and inspection.

 

[Red Badger]

Also sorry that ya got whacked. Our SD is filled with Bradford Pear fallers. They are unworthy of being called trees. I had mine removed after a couple of issues. Our backyard is surrounded by trees (but thankfully, no Bradfords). We have great shade and privacy, just no trees that belong to us.

When we lived in GA, we had an ice storm that brought down thousands of pine branches. We were without power for 5 days. Only thing that worked was the LL phone.

 

[Brdofpray]

OP here. This was a red oak. Looked perfectly healthy, at least not one I was worried about. There are others I have my eye on that worry me more. Roots appear very shallow, with no tap root. In fact, when you look at the up turned root ball, the tree is hollow.

 

[Brdofpray]

The hazards one must accept when you live in the woods.

 

[JoeWras]

At least for the southeast in clay soils, I think the concept of a "taproot" is something that only exists in drawings.