microburst /ˈmaɪkroʊˌbɝst/ noun1 •A strong downdraft, of less than 2.5 miles in diameter, that can cause damaging winds and powerful wind shear.This resulted in the aircraft’s encounter at low altitude with a microburst-induced, severe wind shear from a rapidly developing thunderstorm located on the final approach course. — 1986 formsmicrobursts