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Friday's Destructive Wind Storm Explained
What's a derecho? And why is it so unusual?
As the millions of people still without power today will attest, that was no ordinary wind storm on Friday.
An event that reportedly happens about once every four years, a fast and furious thunderstorm formed west of Chicago at about 11 a.m. and then raced at speeds upwards of 60 mph in a straight line across Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Virginia, Maryland, and Washington, D.C. and out over the Atlantic Ocean by midnight, according to news reports.
Meteorologists call this kind of straight-lined fast moving thunderstorm a derecho. And this Friday's derecho already has its own wiki page.
Also on Discovery News: Storm Tracker: Killer Storm and Heat, 2M Without Power
Like other thunderstoms, derechos generate power from convective wind gusts formed between pressure systems. But unlike other storms, derechos maintain a forward motion, basically feeding off the interface between the systems in a race that moves the storm at upwards of 50 mph for distances of hundreds of miles.
"Derechos often form along the northern boundary of a hot-air mass, right along or just south of the jet stream, where upper-level winds zip along at high speeds," reported the Seattle Times.
The record-setting temperatures on Friday clashed with the weather systems over Chicago and the storms that emerged grew in power forming a derecho that the upper-level winds continued push forward as the storm chewed its way through the heat wave.
Related on How Stuff Works: Why are there more thunderstorms during the summer?
RELATED ON SKYE: Watch: Jaw-Dropping Video of Derecho Wind Storm Damage
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12 Comments
tell the morons to get their heads out of their a$$es or else work without pay.
July 04 2012 at 9:51 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down ReplySounds like something being served at Taco Bell
July 04 2012 at 5:53 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down ReplyThe article forgot to mention WV which was also in the path of the windstorm. Once again it seems that people forget that it is a state too. Just saying.
July 02 2012 at 10:00 PM Report abuse Permalink +2 rate up rate down ReplyThe new most popular girl's name Derecho! any girl born on Friday in any of those states, this should be her name, or Mariah, which means "WIND!"
July 02 2012 at 9:10 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down ReplyIt does NOT mean WIND. There was a movie in 1951, "Paint your Wagon", where there was a song called "They Called the Wind Mariah".
July 04 2012 at 1:58 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down ReplyMariah comes from the hebrew word that means beloved, loved, or star of the sea. It can also mean bitter.
And Derecho is a masculine name. The female is Derecha. So I don't see how can you call a baby girl Paul or Michael, or Derecho.
July 04 2012 at 2:00 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down ReplyJeeze! get a grip! It's nothing to go do-lolly over!
July 04 2012 at 11:32 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate downThis thing hit across much of Ohio and scenes like that played out all over our state--then in some areas---I was caught in one just 24 hours ago now in New Carlisle, Ohio last night---that was really something---trees taken down---roofs torn off houses and buildings, power lines down across roads---hopefully----even though we are still going to have some more of this run of high heat----we won't get anymore storms like this coming through----in our area---people are just now recovering from a major hail storm that hit us last summer.
July 02 2012 at 8:21 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply