Severe Weather: Straight-line winds

WUPW - People hear the stories, they see the damage, they see one thing that looks twisted or anything at all and people think tornado.

But a lot of the time, tornadoes aren't the culprit. It's straight-line winds not from a twister, but a thunderstorm.

Straight-line winds can happen anytime during a storm, and they generally leave a uniform damage pattern -- meaning, if a bunch of trees are knocked down, most of the time they're all knocked down in the same direction.

If a tornado caused the mess, the trees would be down in all directions, looking like the tornado's rotation.

But just because they're different, it doesn't mean one is more dangerous than the other.

"The wind damage can be just as widespread, even more widespread with straight-line winds than it would be with a tornado," said National Weather Service meteorologist Martin Mullen.

Straight-line winds can be harder to spot and would just be part of a severe thunderstorm warning. So, if there is a severe thunderstorm warning, there is a possibility for straight-line winds. You need to take cover.

"You actually take a lot of the same precautions to protect yourself from the straight-line winds as you do a tornado," Mullen said. "You'd want to go to the interior part of your house or your basement if possible."

It may sound a little over the top, but when you take a look at the damage, you can see just how powerful this force of nature can be. So don't take it lightly, and be ready for anything.