Thunderstorm Wind in Denver County, Colorado

Strong microburst hit Denver International Airport in a rare early morning event. Damage occurred to a Delta Airlines plane parked at the airport. The strong winds knocked the plane out of the chocks, and rotated it 90 degrees. Damage occurred to the nose cone as it hit another object, and the aircraft will be out of service. Information was relayed to us by Dave Cunningham, Director of Operations at DIA. He initially had inquired about the winds at the KDEN ASOS, with a brief but high wind gust of 70 mph (61 kts) reported at 410 AM MDT. Four other wind shear sensors on the airport grounds reported gusts in the 50-58 kt range.

Strong microburst hit Denver International Airport in a rare early morning event. Damage occurred to a Delta Airlines plane parked at the airport. The strong winds knocked the plane out of the chocks, and rotated it 90 degrees. Damage occurred to the nose cone as it hit another object, and the aircraft will be out of service. Four other wind shear sensors on the airport grounds reported gusts in the 50-58 kt range. Additional high-based thunderstorms produce winds to around 60 mph during the afternoon hours.