Officials said a microburst was the cause of downed trees and scattered debris during a thunderstorm Sunday night in Russellville.

A storm system that moved through the Russellville area Sunday night caused damage in several parts of town including downed trees, large limbs snapped off, an abundance of scattered debris, and widespread power outages.

The storm moved into the area around 9:30 p.m. Sunday. Thunderstorms like this aren’t uncommon, especially this time of year, but those who witnessed the storm knew it wasn’t a normal summer thunderstorm because of the abnormally high wind gusts.

According to Tim Troutman, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Huntsville, the high winds that caused the damage associated with Sunday night’s storm were due to a microburst.

Troutman said thunderstorms this time of year lose their strength in the evening because they start losing heat generated during the day.

“When this happens, the thunderstorm collapses and the extra energy has to find somewhere to go,” he said.

“This causes the high winds in the storm to rush toward the ground and causes very strong to damaging winds, which was the case in Russellville Sunday night.”

The Russellville Street Department was out Monday morning clearing the streets from the limbs and debris scattered during the storm, and most debris was cleared by late morning.