Photos by Jeffrey Hastings/Frame of Mind Photo
MANCHESTER, NH – A violent thunderstorm that moved across Manchester Thursday evening left a path of destruction due to what the National Weather Service describes as a downburst.
“The storm came out of the Merrimack Valley in Concord and went straight south into Manchester,” said NWS meteorologist Chris Kimble. A downburst happens when a thunderstorm grows in size and sends lots of moisture into the air until it becomes too heavy, and then it comes down all at once as heavy rain and strong winds.
“Unfortunately, it happened just as the storm arrived and ost of the damage happened in Manchester,” Kimble said.
As rain poured down streets began to flood and the heavy wind and rain brought down several trees across the city, into houses and on top of cars. Multiple houses including ones on Belmont Street and Manor Drive had substantial damage from the trees.
There were also calls to Manchester fire department for wires and trees down, and flooding, and a report of lightning striking Brookside Church.
Kimble said Manchester-Boston Regional Airport logged gusts of wind at 55 mph at 7:22 p.m. Eversource initially reported more than 2,000 homes without power, at least half of them in Manchester. As of 11:15 p.m. there were still more than 900 homes waiting for power to return.
The storm moved into Massachusetts where it grew and dropped another downburst, Kimble said, then weakened as it moved south, tracking West of Boston and then East of Providence.
The sun will try to return tomorrow, said Kimble, with temperatures in the 70s and no rain expected, Kimble said.
Jeffrey Hastings contributed to this story.
