Time-Lapse Video of a Rare Heat Burst Event in Iowa
May 08, 2012; 9:13 AM
A rare heat burst in Bussey, Iowa, Thursday suddenly spiked temperatures more than 10 degrees. Bussey is about 50 miles southeast of Des Moines.
"Temperatures shot up from about 74 degrees to about 85 degrees," Tad Davis from KCCI-TV in Des Moines reported, "and at the same time the dew point dropped from about 73 to about 54."
"The weather station also recorded a sudden change in the peak wind gusts, jumping from about 15 mph to about 60 mph at about 8 a.m."
A heat burst is characterized by a rapid increase in temperature, as much as 20 degrees, a drastic drop in humidity and gusty winds. Heat bursts usually happen at night when there are thunderstorms in the area.
Want to know more? You can read more information about what causes heat bursts on the National Weather Service website.
Wikipedia has a running list of documented cases of heat bursts back to 1909, with some cases of temperatures blasting above 100 degrees.