on a trip recently across an open highway, with not a breath in the air, our full sized car was sideswiped?

Question

with a major gust of wind that actually "moved" our car to the right!!--any ideas as to what this may have been. Was quite disturbing and a little bit "eerie!"

Answer 1

It's called a side draft, and they don't need to be more then 25
or 30 miles an hour to move a car. Consider the surface
area it is working against.

Answer 2

What you've described sounds like a 'micro-burst.' These often occur in and around strong thunderstorms and are caused by isolated pockets of air moving vertically towards the ground where they suddenly spread outward in all directions.

Sudden variations in terrain can also focus even a slight breeze and compress it into a sudden sideways burst of wind.

Without more info about the conditions that existed where you were it's hard to answer the question.

Answer 3

It's hardd to give ananswer because the "facts" you've presented are mutually inconsistent. It cannot be true that both: "there was not a breath in the air " and "a major gust of wind" moved your car.. One or the other, sir: wind or no wind, which is it?

Answer 4

I remember something similar during a calm day at a golf driving range. There was no wind and then suddenly lawn chairs started flying around. Then it was calm again and I saw a large dust devil moving over the range. It's possible that you passed through one of those.

Answer 5

If there were storms in the general area, it could have been an outflow boundary from a storm within a county or two of you. Outflow boundaries can gust to 45 M.P.H. within some distance from the parent storm.

Answer 6

wind shear ? They get them on airport runways which are open so perhaps the area has weather fronts that cause it too. Don't know just a logical guess on my part