Saturday’s thunderstorms brought at least four microbursts — an air column that’s pushed downward during a thunderstorm, which then bursts heavy wind in all directions — to the Philadelphia area, according to the National Weather Service.
The first recorded microburst happened at 2:44 p.m. in Lower Merion, pushing gusts of 60 to 70 mph gusts that caused power outages while damaging trees and infrastructure.