TOWNSEND — A powerful thunderstorm blasted through the Townsend area Tuesday evening, hitting just after 6 p.m.
Damaging winds picked up thick clouds of dust and toppled large trees across town. One chicken coop was left completely unrecognizable after the storm.
(WATCH: Severe storm causes damage in Townsend)
The highest confirmed gust in Tuesday's event was 72 miles per hour. That gust was picked up by a weather station near the foothills of the Elkhorn Mountains and observed by the National Weather Service, prompting the issuing of a severe thunderstorm warning for the area with a special tag that it may cause considerable damage.
The extreme winds knocked out power to about 400 customers near Townsend. Linemen were able to restore electricity to some of those customers by 2:30 Wednesday morning.
The localized nature of the winds makes a microburst the most likely culprit for the damage.
A microburst is a small and concentrated downward movement of cold air from a thunderstorm. It produces an outward thrust of strong winds near the surface, with speeds reaching up to 150 mph in the most extreme cases.
