Insider Blog: Strong thunderstorm causes damage near the Lake of the Ozarks Wednesday night

The ABC 17 Stormtrack Weather Team confirmed a handful of storm damage reports on Wednesday evening after isolated storms developed along a cold front.

The cell in particular developed in southern Camden County and brought down tree limbs near Linn Creek, along with hail up to the size of half dollars. As the cell slowly drifted north, it brought heavy rain and strong winds to Osage Beach.

A roof was lifted off a multi-car garage building at Lands End Condos in Osage Beach.

Typically when we see straight line wind damage, we've been tracking a long squall line of storms. In this case, these were likely downburst winds as the storm weakened and collapsed.

A downburst happens when a thunderstorm updraft begins to weaken as cool air builds in the middle of the storm. As the updraft collapses, a strong surge of air is released downward and spreads in all directions, often causing damage.

The radar velocity signature points to a possible downburst in this storm. Red pixels indicate winds flowing away from the radar while green indicates winds flowing toward the radar.

In the case of the roof loss, intense pressure from the strong winds pressed against the walls of the garage and allowed the roof to lift off, appearing to mostly be in one piece. Garages typically aren't the safest places to take shelter during severe weather due to this reason, and because garage doors often fail and allow strong winds to enter and collapse the building.