Wednesday morning microburst causes property damage to Ammon neighborhood

AMMON, Idaho (KIFI) - A passing morning thunderstorm caused property damage in an Ammon neighborhood on Wednesday. Isolated thunderstorms early Wednesday were seen throughout the region. One storm cell delivered a strong downdraft around 9:30 A.M., according to residents in the Stonehaven neighborhood near Bass Pro Shops.   

Vanessa Cordova contacted Local News 8 and said, “It started getting really windy, so I closed my windows and then headed for the backdoor that faces west. I watched our trampoline fly on top of our utility trailer. Huge branches broke off our tree and started to swirl toward me in the doorway, so I slammed my door shut to avoid getting hit by the branches. After about 30 seconds it was gone.”   

Cordova went on to say, “I briefly surveyed our neighborhood, and it didn't look like anybody had the damage we did. Our tree branches were all over the road, our fence was blown down on the North and West side of our house.” 

Local News 8’s Chief Meteorologist Michael Coats says this appears to be a microburst, which is a localized downdraft of air within a thunderstorm that can produce damaging winds.