Storm - Thunderstorm causes damage - suspected tornado in Cottbus
Uprooted Trees, damaged cars and roofs - a storm caused destruction in Cottbus. Was it a Tornado that left a trail of devastation? This is not yet clear. The meteorological phenomenon should be classified as a suspected Tornado, said meteorologist Stefan Rubach of the German Weather Service (DWD) in Potsdam a day after the storm.
According to the city of Cottbus, the storm caused significant damage in the Sielow district, affecting around 300 meters: covered and damaged roofs, uprooted and uprooted trees, damaged cars and bent garden fences. An older camping trailer was reportedly lifted into the air and landed in a fence. In the affected area, the fire department was called to 17 sites.
In another street, seven uprooted and interlocked trees had to be removed. The extent of the damages is not yet known. Previously, the Rundfunk Berlin-Brandenburg (RBB) reported.
Tornado or just a thunderstorm outflow?
DWD meteorologist Rubach said about the weather phenomenon in Cottbus, it could be a Tornado or a thunderstorm outflow. This must be assessed based on radar data and damage images on site. They are small-scale phenomena. This means that at one end of a street a Tornado can cause large damages, while nothing is noticeable a few hundred meters away.
Tornados and outflows - called Downbursts in English - are usually associated with heavy thunderstorms, but they differ physically. According to DWD, Tornados are strongly rotating air vortices with a vertical axis that develop from a shower or thunderstorm cloud and make contact with the ground. A rotating cloud core or tube is often visible.
Outflows, on the other hand, form when cold air falls in a thunderstorm and hits the ground and spreads out in a linear direction. They look like a kind of white wall and can reach wind speeds of over 200 kilometers per hour, according to DWD.
- The damaged cars and roofs in Cottbus were possibly caused by the tornado, as suggested by meteorologist Stefan Rubach from the German Weather Service (DWD) in Potsdam.
- The fallen trees in another street required the removal of seven interlocked trees, adding to the destruction caused by the suspected tornado.
- According to the RBB report, the city of Cottbus experienced significant damage in the Sielow district due to the tornado, affecting several buildings and vehicles.
- The meteorological phenomenon in Cottbus could be classified as a tornado or a thunderstorm outflow, as indicated by DWD meteorologist Rubach, depending on the radar data and damage images analyzed.
- Tornados and thunderstorm outflows, known as Downbursts in English, are associated with heavy thunderstorms and can cause severe damage, with tornados being strongly rotating air vortices and outflows formed by cold air falling in a thunderstorm and spreading out linearly.
