Microburst takes out 6 acres at Mansfield ski area

According to Scott Whittier, a National Weather Service meteorologist in charge of warning coordination, that’s a good thing.

“You may get a quick wind gust just before the rain, because the air is cooler than the wind around it,” he said. “When this happens, it’s just a matter of seconds. You get that wind, the trees will bend, and three seconds later, it’s all over.”

Looking at “canned radar” weather maps from July 3, Whittier was able to determine that the storm came up the western slopes of Mansfield from the Williston-Richmond area at about 5:30 to 5:45 p.m. The storm was at its strongest as it crossed over the 4,393-foot summit at 6:10. And then it was over.

Although the National Weather Service had been issuing flood and weather warnings that day in Rutland and Poultney and across northern New York, the Mansfield microburst didn’t take long enough to form on the radar to give forecasters time, or forethought, to issue a warning.

“It kind of briefly maximized over Mansfield and, as quickly as it formed, it fell apart,” Whittier said.

According to the National Weather Service website, a microburst is formed when cold air from the middle and upper levels of a thunderstorm descends and hits the ground. It then begins to roll out, like a wake caused by a boat, and the air becomes compressed, causing winds to increase dramatically. Some microbursts can pack winds of up to 168 miles per hour, harder than some tornadoes.

“It’s kind of like taking a bucket of rain and just dumping it out over the ground,” Whittier said.

Footprint in the forest

The Goat Woods is a popular area among skiers and riders who choose to get off the trails in search of tight turns and untracked powder; it’s full of yellow and paper birches, balsams and red spruce.

The 6.4-acre swath of trees knocked down and bent by the microburst will change the nature of those woods, and no one will be coming to clear out the debris.

“It can be pretty difficult and dangerous to go and try to clean that out,” said Brad Greenouth, a state lands forester with the Vermont Department of Forests and Parks. “We just let nature wait for a while and heal itself. I think when it grows back it will be very similar to what was there.”

Greenouth said he isn’t concerned about erosion, even with all manner of evergreen and birch trees uprooted and gnarled in a patch clearly visible from several vantage points in the Smugglers Notch State Park and Stowe Mountain Resort areas.

Mike Colbourn, the resort’s spokesman, said the state will help clear out debris that actually came down on the Goat and Midway ski trails, or that poses a threat to those trails. He said he is not sure how the Goat Woods experience will be changed next winter and for years to come.

“We maintain the areas that are designated trails,” he said. “The two trail areas will be cleared.”

Greenouth said the microburst didn’t affect construction on the resort’s zip line, which is being installed on the Mansfield face, although he recommended to the state that the resort’s Act 250 permit be amended to allow for some extra tree trimming in places near the Midway trail that might have been jeopardized by the downed trees.

While skiers and riders will have to adapt to the natural changes in the Goat Woods — whether it becomes more open and bowl-like or overly gnarly and impassable — Greenouth said the flattened area has affected the sightseeing.

“If you’re going down the (Goat) trail and look to your left,” he said, “you have a nice view of the Notch you never had before.”