dave weil wrote in
:

Microburst are often so powerful that they cause damage commensurate
with tornados. Sometimes, it's only experts that can tell the
difference between the rotating winds of a tornado and the
straight-line winds of a microburst.

I would expect microbursts to be rare in California, since strong
thunderstorms are probably pretty rare, right?

I won't speak for the northern part of our state, but in Southern
California thunderstorms occur (in the city, at least) once a year or less,
and when they occur they're rarely as profound as the ones I've witnessed
in the midwest or east coast. Desert areas of So Cal have thunderstorms in
summer, though, and during occasional violent weather one hears of
microbursts here, or even waterspouts over the ocean.

We have dry winds, of course, our Santa Anas, which can dry out a rose
garden within minutes of watering, if the accompanying temperatures are
high enough, but those aren't an everyday occurrence.

Hearing about all the weather elsewhere via rgr has humbled me. We don't
have anything like the deluges and tornadoes (and resultant diseases and
destruction) that I see recounted here. These stories make me realize how
tenuous rose growing can be in climates with those kinds of challenges, and
in an odd way (though I've always been fascinated by weather patterns
elsewhere) makes me appreciate what we have.

----