Most natural disasters get things named after them: water park rides, alcoholic drinks, university mascots. Or they become the subject of countless numbers of songs and poems.
So now that a damaging storm last month has placed the term "microburst" into Lawrence residents' vocabulary, will it get a similar treatment?
It appears, based on a small survey conducted in recent days, that the chance is slim.
"I would say I have a feeling that the term 'microburst,' because it's so clinical-sounding, isn't really going to go anywhere," said Matt Pryor, lead singer and guitarist for the Lawrence-based band The New Amsterdams. "I can't imagine that everyone will refer to it as 'The Great Microburst of '06.'"
Pryor lives in East Lawrence and had a tree fall on his home during the storm, but he said he doesn't foresee himself ever writing a "microburst" song. Neither does Steve Mason, who sings, plays violin and writes songs for the Alferd Packer Memorial String Band.
"It would be a weak word," Mason said. "It's kind of like singing about the horrible spring shower."
At Free State Brewing Co., 636 Mass., employees have scribbled the word "microburst" in place of "tornado" on a set of emergency procedure signs in the back of the house, proprietor Chuck Magerl said.
But at a place that typically features beers with Kansas-themed names, there is no "Microburst Ale" on tap yet. Magerl isn't wild about the idea.
"Beyond just the aspect of it being potentially catastrophic, it also is somewhat diminutive in its sensibilities," Magerl said. "I haven't quite warmed to it yet."
Burst of destruction
The Replay Lounge, 946 Mass., had its windows broken in the storm. During a St. Patrick's Day concert on the back patio, employees hung a sign that said, "Ain't no microburst stopping the Replay Lounge," but so far the name hasn't found its way into any drink specials.
"We probably should make something up," manager Jenny Osborn said.
Lawrence artist Ardys Ramberg designed a weather-themed mural for the side of Cottin's Hardware & Rental, 1832 Mass., and has sculpted a tornado made of wire. She said she could imagine doing a sculpture depicting a microburst but, like many other people, she has problems with the word.
"I have used the term, but I've used it with irritation, because I had many friends who say they saw a funnel," she said. "'Micro' kind of minimizes it to me."
6News meteorologist Matt Sayers said the term "microburst" had been used commonly in weather circles for years. A "downburst" refers to a column of air that shoots downward quickly and spreads out in all directions when it hits the ground, he said. If the size of the downburst is 2.5 miles across or less, it's known as a "microburst."
Some people still refuse to believe that what happened in Lawrence last month was actually a microburst, Sayers said.
"I think everyone in town wants to call it a tornado and doesn't believe it could cause the damage it did," he said.
Comments
LJWorld.com doesn’t necessarily condone the comments here, nor does it review every post. Read our full policy. Also, read about banned accounts and harassing comments.
planetwax (anonymous) says…
I think "Microburst Ale" is a great name for a beer. And, I hope I get the tree cut down that split in two from the "burst" really soon. It's working on two months and it's going to cost us around $1000 to get it done. Ugh. To top it off, the hail last night dented up my car. What else is going to happen to our weathered town?
Daemon (anonymous) says…
So just out of curiosity, how much of Lawrence was out of power last night? I live over around 25th and Iowa, and everything to the east of that intersection, not to mention everything to the north of that intersection was pitch black, and stayed that way as I drove up onto campus, and then drove accross and down by the stadium. Then the power started to come on in the places I was driveing by--so I couldn't see how far it went. Anybody know?
Mari (Mari Windermere) says…
We had a couple of brownouts and a very brief blackout in Old West Lawrence.
The hail here was bigger than a golfall, but smaller than a tennis ball.
Ugh.
johnadavies (anonymous) says…
Our power over around 19th and Haskell, which usually goes down when a sparrow sneezes, stayed up last night. I didn't go out to see anything last night, although I saw the hail out the window, so I don't know whether the lights were on beyond 23rd.
bretherite (anonymous) says…
Golfball size hail by Broken Arrow and spotty power outages over here.
GardenMomma (anonymous) says…
The power went out by West Jr. High a couple of hours after the main storm went through. It was only off for about 45 minutes or so.
nut_case (anonymous) says…
Are they still milking last months microburst story!?!? Enough already! It's done! What about last nights storm?
75x55 (anonymous) says…
Soda mites? Small insects that like carbonated beverages?
horrific_changeling (anonymous) says…
I was at a friends in far sw lawrence, and theirs went out for a long time.
mefirst (anonymous) says…
We're in north central Lawrence. Power was out for about 45 minutes.
brotherskeeper (anonymous) says…
+1 for Microburst Ale, a two beat up cars and brown outs at 23rd and Mass
Gootsie (anonymous) says…
We live in NW Lawrence and it was out for about 3.5 hours. We also had a 2.5" hailstone in our yard. That's some kind of big stone.
cellogrl (anonymous) says…
It was out in the Trailridge and Greystone Apartment area too.
armyguy (anonymous) says…
No, story about the storm last night, that has damaged more bldgs and cars, than the "microburst". Interesting.
By the way you should call your insurance company if you own you home. The inch or two of hail that fell at my home made me call. Had to leave a message though too many calls.
gerbilsniper (anonymous) says…
I'm surpised Marion's not on yet preaching about biosolids and other little quips in his limited vocabulary.
Gareth (anonymous) says…
"Only people on 'snob hill' who are elite liberals call it a 'microburst' --- why, everybody knows it's a storm that does more damage than I do to somebody who makes fun of the fact that I'm named 'Marion'!! "
Yeah, I can hear it now. Can't wait.
Azure_Attitude (anonymous) says…
Prairie Park Nature Center area didn't lose power, but we did have golfball sized hail.
joemamma (anonymous) says…
yep. typical good Dolph reportage. Nuthin' bout last nite storm, which did millions in damage to roofs and cars...
see here
http://i51.photobucket.com/albums/f38...
RonBurgandy (anonymous) says…
fun fun fun.
badger (anonymous) says…
Man, nothin' makes me happy I moved like a quick check of the respective weather reports.
Last week, parts of Austin had small hail, but there was minimal damage. Surrounding areas did get hit harder, though. A church in Kerrville had tangerine-sized hail go through its skylight; thankfully no one was hurt.
I read the Lawrence weather, and mine looks pretty nice by comparison.
golfku59 (anonymous) says…
I live by the stadium and over half of the cars in my apartment parking lot got windows smashed out. My windows were fine, but I just had my car appraised and it is going to cost $5,700 to fix it. Our hail was also bigger than golf ball but smaller than tennis ball. No power out here...
lunacydetector (anonymous) says…
the last thing that popped into my mind was that someone would name a song or a drink after our recent microburst. was this a dada article? i bet boog would find it great fun!