The story
From down- + burst, coined by American meteorologist Horace R. Byers and Japanese and American meteorologist Tetsuya T. Fujita in November 1975.
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.
downburst
Today it means: A powerful downward air current, especially one during a thunderstorm, often creating powerful divergent horizontal winds and strong wind shear upon impacting the surface. Full definition →