Macroburst with 90 mph winds swept through NE Ohio, NWS confirms

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CLEVELAND (WJW) — The National Weather Service confirmed that a macroburst with 90 mph winds swept through three Northeast Ohio counties during Tuesday’s storms.

The macroburst, 15 miles long and 15 miles wide, occurred in eastern Cuyahoga, western Lake and northwest Geauga counties. It begin at about 4:20 p.m. in Eastlake and ended in Chesterland at about 4:50 p.m.

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The NWS damage survey, released Thursday afternoon, estimated 70 mph to 90 mph winds through the area with “very small pockets of up to 100 mph,” causing serious damage to trees, wires and power lines. Damage was also done to some homes, the survey says.

So, what is a macroburst? According to FOX 8 meteorologist Mackenzie Bart, macrobursts are outward bursts of strong wind that occur over a greater distance with a horizontal extent of more than 2 1/2 miles in diameter.

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In comparison, microbursts are less than 2 1/2 miles in diameter. Although a macroburst is considered less powerful, its wind speeds can still reach 130 mph.

This comes after the National Weather Service confirmed at least four tornadoes touched down during storms that left widespread damage and knocked out power to hundreds of thousands of people across Northeast Ohio.

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