Weather Words: Heat Burst

Imagine stepping outside at night and suddenly feeling like someone opened an oven door. That’s what it can feel like during a heat burst.

It's a rare and dramatic weather phenomenon where temperatures can spike by 10, 20 or even 30 degrees in just minutes, often in the middle of the night.

A heat burst happens when a thunderstorm starts to fall apart. Rain inside the storm begins to fall but evaporates before it hits the ground, cooling the air around it. That cooler, heavier air sinks quickly, but as it drops, it gets squeezed by pressure and heats up fast. By the time it reaches the ground, it’s no longer cool but suddenly hot, dry and often very windy.

According to the National Weather Service, a heat burst occurred in Wichita, Kansas just after midnight on June 9, 2011. The temperature rose from 85 degrees to 102 in just 20 minutes!

While heat bursts are rare, they tend to happen during the warmer months. They’re a striking reminder of just how fast and dramatic weather can change, even in the dead of night when the storms seem to be winding down.

Jennifer Gray is a weather and climate writer for weather.com. She has been covering some of the world's biggest weather and climate stories for the last two decades.