Study: Straight-line winds getting stronger, more destructive

BOULDER, Colo. — We here in Colorado know all too well just how destructive powerful winds can be.

According to a new study on how our weather is changing, the straight-line winds we feel when a thunderstorm rumbles through are becoming more widespread and much more destructive.

A straight-line wind is caused by a powerful downdraft — a column of air pushing downward — that flows from the base of a thunderstorm outward. It’s called straight-line because, unlike a tornado, it has no rotation.