microburst...
Mother Nature brings shock, awe to South Shore
By Raja Mishra, Globe Staff | August 16, 2005
The devastation came quickly, a freakish burst of storm air that left Hingham strewn with uprooted trees, its historic Congregational church steeple smoldering, and its residents frightened and awestruck.
Yesterday, power was restored to most of the area, a day after a so-called microburst hit the town -- a rare pulse of 60- to 70-mile-per-hour winds common on the Great Plains but exceedingly rare in New England.
The Hingham microburst occurred during a three-hour storm Sunday afternoon that dumped more than 5 inches of rain on much of the South Shore, a deluge that weather analysts said occurs less than once a decade.
''It puts us in touch again with the power of God. It makes us realize how human we are," said the Rev. Diane Mix, pastor at the Hingham Congregational Church, where services were canceled indefinitely until the 158-year-old steeple can be repaired. ''We're incredibly thankful. It could have been worse for us and our neighbors."
Lightning struck two Hingham residents. Both were released from the hospital, with one, a utility worker, back at work that same night, authorities said.
The entire town lost power, with lines to Hingham police headquarters down for 20 minutes. Four houses were hit by lightning.
''It was the worst storm I've seen in 20 years," said Sergeant Kris Phillips of the Hingham Police Department. ''There are trees and branches all over town."
It was this detritus -- 20 trees down on Main Street -- that told meteorologists something rare had occurred.
''A big gust of wind came down suddenly at once," Tracy McCormack, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service, said of the microburst. ''It's just one gust, less than a minute long."
Microbursts occur when rain from high clouds evaporates before hitting the ground, cooling the air and creating a high-floating mass of low-temperature air that rushes to the ground. The air burst curls out after touching the ground, like faucet water hitting a sink, causing damage in an area usually no larger than 2.5 square miles.
Norman Budde of Main Street, for one, was impressed.
''We've been living on the South Shore for 50 years, and I've never had anything like this happen," said the 74-year-old resident, who watched the storm rip a 60-foot-tall tree in front of his yard out of the ground and through a power line. ''The rain was pouring, there was thunder and lightning, there were sparks. It was a show."
Yesterday, a steeple construction specialist determined that three of the eight octagonal frame pieces that support the Hingham Congregational Church's steeple had been burned through by two lightning strikes on the church's lightning rod.
The steeple could still topple, said Mix, who has suspended all activities at the 600-member church until repair workers are convinced the steeple is stable.
On Sunday, as he watched nature's wrath from her house a mile away, Mix's thoughts turned to the divine.
''How awesome is creation," Mix said. ''It makes us realize how human we are."
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