AULT, Colo. — Over the weekend, powerful winds caused damage across Northern Colorado and the Eastern Plains, knocking down trees, damaging homes and, in Greeley, prompting investigators to examine whether a microburst may have contributed to a deadly fire. The fire left one person dead and another injured.
In Ault, the same type of powerful wind tore through a local festival, injuring a vendor.
Johanna Emery was working at the festival when the microburst hit.
“I’ve got 100-pound concrete weights that hold my booth down, and it picked one up and smashed it into my chest, and then it carried me,” Emery said.
Emery said everything at her booth had been secured and properly installed. But the wind was simply too strong.
“It was pretty scary and kind of traumatic for everyone involved, especially the kids,” she said.
Emery was taken to the hospital after being injured. When Denver7 returned to Ault on Monday, she said she was still dealing with pain and difficulty breathing and moving around, but was recovering.
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Emery said she is no stranger to microbursts, but she has noticed what feels like an increase in their frequency.
“I do wonder why, you know, why it’s happening. And it seems like it’s happening more frequently lately,” she said.
Denver7 meteorologist Danielle Grant said a microburst is a powerful downward rush of air from a thunderstorm that spreads out when it reaches the ground.
“Microburst basically means that you have incredibly strong winds that are coming out of a thunderstorm cloud,” Grant said. “They can easily spread upwards of 60, 70, 80 miles per hour while you don't get any rain out of that thunderstorm.”
That makes microbursts different from tornadoes.
“With a microburst, you have straight-line winds that come directly out of a thunderstorm,” Grant said. “Whereas a tornado, you have kind of this violently rotating column of air, rather than the straight-line winds with a microburst.”
Grant said the unusually hot and dry conditions Colorado has experienced could be contributing to more favorable conditions for microbursts.
“We are seeing perhaps maybe a bit more than normal just because of how hot it’s been and how unusually dry it’s also been,” Grant said.
For Emery, the experience is a reminder of just how quickly dangerous winds can develop.
She said she is grateful she survived the incident and is focused on recovering.
