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Why Did So Many Trees Fall Down During Wednesday's Windstorm?

DETROIT (WWJ) - Hundreds of trees fell down during Wednesday's windstorm, but why?

Metro Detroit was pelted with wind gusts topping 60 miles per hour, knocking out electrical service to more than 700,000 people at one point. DTE Energy is calling it the largest weather event in the utility's history, with 670,000 customers still without power Thursday.

The winds brought down more than 3,000 power lines in the area and caused hundreds of trees to topple.

In Detroit alone, some 200 trees were blown down by the high winds. The city is deploying a dozen tree removal crews on Thursday to clear the trees from roads, sidewalks and city property, but the cleanup effort is expected to take several days.

Storms happen all the time in metro Detroit, but why did so many trees fall down during Wednesday's damaging winds?

Due to the unusually warm weather this winter, as well as recent significant rainfall, the ground is very soft and saturated. That, combined with the sustained high winds, caused the trees to uproot, falling onto poles and power lines and resulting in widespread outages.

 

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