AIR SHOW TRAGEDY 1 YEAR LATER

It has been 1 year since the tragedy at the air show featuring the Blue Angels at the Huntsville International Airport. While this event is still fresh in some of our minds for others who would like to know what happened here is a report from that sad day.Weekend storms left a bit of destruction and beneficial rain locally. While there were reports of a strong winds knocking down trees and power lines over the weekend, it was the destructive wind at a Huntsville air show that made unfortunate headlines. Yesterday afternoon around 2:00 central a “microburst” overturned planes and toppled a spectator tent, injuring 12 and killing a 5-year-old boy.

According to WAFF-TV in Huntsville:
Airport officials have confirmed that one person, 5 year-old Aaron Miller of Athens is dead after a microsburst hit the Air Show this afternoon. Witnesses say several VIP tents, including the City of Huntsville's tent, and the main announcer's stand were picked up off the ground and overturned. Twelve additional injuries, including lacerations and fractures have also been confirmed.this is a show in the open field with hundreds, if not thousands, outside at one time. In a case like this, many were left to find shelter in tents or no shelter at all. There were no severe thunderstorm warnings on the storm as the winds were below the severe limit of 58 mph. A weather statement was issued at 1:45 of the storm and the Airport was alerted. At 2:05pm, a wind gust of 48 mph was registered.

Tim Troutman who works for the NWS in Huntsville was attending the show. He spoke with the Huntsville times:

"It happened really fast," said Troutman, "It was a matter of a second or two and it was over. There wasn't a lot of time to react, to be honest." "It was developing into a strong thunderstorm, but it never did reach severe thunderstorm level," he said. "The peak gust was 10 mph under what the weather service qualifies as severe-level winds."

As I write this story, I ask what could have been done. I don't really know. While there was some warning, it just appears to be one of those cases where you are truly caught off guard. We are thinking of the families affected.

Here is the NWS Huntsville Definition of what happened.

At approximately 2:05 PM CDT, a strong thunderstorm hit the Huntsville International Airport during the 2008 Huntsville Airshow. The Huntsville ASOS (Automated Surface Observing System) recorded a 48 mph gust from 300 degrees (NW) at that time. Approximately 17 minutes earlier, at 1:48 PM, the same storm produced a 33 mph wind gust at the Decatur airport in southern Limestone County. A thunderstorm becomes severe when it produces wind gusts of 58 mph or greater, or hail larger than 3/4 inch in diameter (generally the size of a penny).

The damage and injuries that occurred at the Huntsville Airshow were determined to originate from a non-severe microburst. Microbursts are downdrafts that occur from some thunderstorms, hit the ground, and spread out, producing strong gusty winds at the earth's surface. Microbursts are fairly frequent across the southeastern United States in the summertime, often occurring with very strong thunderstorms, but significant microbursts can occur even within weaker thunderstorms.