A survey team from the National Weather Service says a microburst is what caused wind damage on the south side of Cape Girardeau during storms last night. The event is believed to have happened at about 7:15 with winds peaking at about 95 miles per hour.
A microburst is a narrow column of sinking air that can produce straight-line winds that can cause damage in some cases comparable to that cause by tornadoes.
The team does believe a weak, EF-0 tornado touched down across the Mississippi River in Cape Girardeau, Illinois about 5 minutes after the microburst on the Missouri side.
The team is also following-up today on reports of a possible tornado sighting west of Naylor and wind damage around Marble Hill.
See our earlier story about NWS teams surveying damage from Halloween night storms.