Heavy winds, possible microburst leaves downed tree in its wake in Pueblo

PUEBLO, Colo. (KRDO) -- In the west part of Pueblo off of Park Avenue is just one of the homes that was hit hardest by big wind gusts.

Stormtracker13 Meteorologist Steve Roldan saw the damage for himself where a tree had been uprooted. The resident of the home where the tree came up from the ground says he was in the yard when it happened, and the wind gust knocked him to the ground too.

"The wind was a little bit like how it is right now," Ali Mesta said on Tuesday. "All of a sudden, a huge gust of wind came on and knocked me on the floor and knocked down my tree and over the fence, and just kept going for a minute. It was pretty vicious."

Photos from Mesta sent to Stormtracker13 show the large tree that was toppled over, among several other downed trees seen in the neighborhood. The National Weather Service (NWS) Pueblo says there's a chance the winds could have been a microburst.

A microburst is a localized powerful column of air with sinking air inside a thunderstorm that hits the ground and spreads outward in all directions. It can cause straight line winds of up to 100 mph. Winds at the time the tree went down were around 60 mph over at the Pueblo Airport.

NWS couldn't confirm or deny whether it happened, as there was also a severe thunderstorm warning in the area at the same time but says it's very possible the incident was the result of a microburst.

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