What Is A Derecho?
Forbes,
by
Marshall Shepherd
Original Article
Posted By: StormCnter,
8/11/2020 9:10:20 AM
As I write this piece, a significant derecho event is making its way across the midwestern part of the United States. It is creating a path of destruction. However, there were several posts on my social media feeds today asking “What is a derecho?” or “How could this much destruction be caused by a derecho? Here is a quick “101” on derechos. Before I get into what they are, let’s discuss the current meteorological circumstances involving this derecho. The Monday weather discussion of the National Weather Service-Chicago said, “All eyes are on the incoming impressive convective complex surging eastward towards the river early this afternoon....
Reply 1 - Posted by:
DVC 8/11/2020 9:19:28 AM (No. 506091)
Another new weather phenomenon name. We used to call them "a line of thunderstorms"....but I guess that isn't cool enough for the Gen X meteorologists.
28 people like this.
Reply 2 - Posted by:
hershey 8/11/2020 9:20:16 AM (No. 506092)
Still don't know what a 'derecho' is...the site wants me to turn off my ad blocker...Noooooooooooo!
13 people like this.
Reply 3 - Posted by:
rellimpank2 8/11/2020 9:23:25 AM (No. 506096)
--must be the summer version of a 'polar vortex'--
11 people like this.
Reply 4 - Posted by:
Newtsche 8/11/2020 9:36:04 AM (No. 506117)
Not to be mistaken for a microburst. Or is it?
6 people like this.
This is NWS "branding" storms to make them an attention getter, and people ask what is a derecho? Never heard of it. Climate change? Never had them before! We need more government-financed study, early warning systems, larger staff...
It sounds ominous if not evil...and now folks are glued to TV and radio waiting for the latest. It's like the "named storms" that become "the next Katrina...potentially."
12 people like this.
Reply 6 - Posted by:
starboard 8/11/2020 9:44:38 AM (No. 506129)
I like the word derecho. In spanish means RIGHT.
9 people like this.
Reply 7 - Posted by:
Maggie2u 8/11/2020 9:56:56 AM (No. 506141)
Yeah, it seems as if every wind or snow storm has to be given a name. Hey, and what's up with every full moon being given some kind of name. Last week's full moon was called the 'Salmon Moon', here in Seattle. Anyone ever hear of that before?
17 people like this.
Reply 8 - Posted by:
IowaDad 8/11/2020 10:28:00 AM (No. 506170)
Lots of damage here. Six houses within 200 yards with roof damage due to trees falling. Electric power and cable lines all over the street, several poles and transformers on the roadway, Interestingly, all damaged houses had black lives matter signs. Equally interesting, only houses without black lives matter signs had groups of people with chain saws etc picking up the mess.
Just sayin'
23 people like this.
Reply 9 - Posted by:
MickTurn 8/11/2020 10:48:33 AM (No. 506189)
Weather Caster turns on automated system, it goes berserk...Derecho.
Next quiz question...
4 people like this.
Reply 10 - Posted by:
earlybird 8/11/2020 11:09:16 AM (No. 506212)
When we have the internet, how diffiult is it to just look up “derecho”?
A derecho (/dəˈreɪtʃoʊ/, from Spanish: derecho [deˈɾetʃo], "straight") is a widespread, long-lived, straight-line wind storm that is associated with a fast-moving group of severe thunderstorms known as a mesoscale convective system.[1]
Derechos can cause hurricane-force winds, tornadoes, heavy rains, and flash floods. In many cases, convection-induced winds take on a bow echo (backward "C") form of squall line, often forming beneath an area of diverging upper tropospheric winds, and in a region of both rich low-level moisture and warm-air advection. Derechos move rapidly in the direction of movement of their associated storms, similar to an outflow boundary (gust front), except that the wind remains sustained for a greater period of time (often increasing in strength after onset), and may exceed hurricane-force. A derecho-producing convective system may remain active for many hours and, occasionally, over multiple days.
A warm-weather phenomenon, derechos occur mostly in summer, especially during June, July, and August in the Northern Hemisphere, within areas of moderately strong instability and moderately strong vertical wind shear. However, derechos may occur at any time of the year, and can occur as frequently at night as during the day.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Derecho
4 people like this.
Reply 11 - Posted by:
BirdsNest 8/11/2020 11:14:47 AM (No. 506216)
The last full moon was called the "Sturgeon Moon" by the Farmers Almanac.
1 person likes this.
Reply 12 - Posted by:
dst4life 8/11/2020 11:39:59 AM (No. 506236)
Just as an FYI, during the summer of 2012, my mother from West Virginia came to stay with my late husband Mike and me because of a bad storm that came through their area. It consisted of a lot of wind that knocked out their power for several days. My mother did not tolerate heat very well, so she came to stay with us. Later, this event was called a "derecho."
2 people like this.
Reply 13 - Posted by:
Rather Read 8/11/2020 12:07:57 PM (No. 506267)
We used to call them squall lines
8 people like this.
Reply 14 - Posted by:
udanja99 8/11/2020 12:22:49 PM (No. 506290)
#12, I went through that derecho too, but in Virginia. It was during the first week of July and it was extremely hot at the time. We lost power for four days and moved into a hotel about 20 miles away after the first 24 hours. There was no warning that it was coming. I was sitting in bed reading when it came through and at first I thought it was an earthquake - windows rattling, tree branches coming down, power went out, but no rain. Only wind. I had never heard the word “derecho” either.
We lived in a very rural area at the time and there was no way to get out to the main roads at first due to downed trees blocking the farm roads. Fortunately, farmers have chain saws and the roads were cleared by noon the next day. I actually drove 18 miles into neighboring Maryland to find a cup of coffee. A few weeks later, we bought a generator.
5 people like this.
Reply 15 - Posted by:
DVC 8/11/2020 12:43:54 PM (No. 506324)
#10, like I said....we used to call it a "line of thunderstorms". Frankly, that covers it. If they have a need to get fancy - how about "a very strong line of thunderstorms".
Nothing new, just some $3 word to try to dress up the pretty pedestrian job of being a weatherman.
2 people like this.
Reply 16 - Posted by:
felixcat 8/11/2020 12:48:20 PM (No. 506334)
#12 and #14. I, too, was (and am) still living in Virginia, just outside northern Virginia, when that derecho came through that night. I was actually sitting out on back deck when the wind started up quickly and very intense. Even in the dark with the street lights for illumination, I could see the trees bending over and over. No rain, though. We, too, lost power for several days. First time I ever heard the term derecho, though, but apparently they're fairly common. Who knew?
2 people like this.
Reply 17 - Posted by:
Maggie2u 8/11/2020 1:38:31 PM (No. 506408)
Poster #11, thanks for the correction. I did mean the sturgeon moon, just wasn't thinking when I typed it.
1 person likes this.
Reply 18 - Posted by:
LadyHen 8/11/2020 2:20:26 PM (No. 506450)
From wiki: "Derecho comes from the Spanish word in adjective form for "straight" (or "direct"), in contrast with a tornado which is a "twisted" wind. The word was first used in the American Meteorological Journal in 1888 by Gustavus Detlef Hinrichs in a paper describing the phenomenon and based on a significant derecho event that crossed Iowa on 31 July 1877."
Who knew they had Gen X meteorologist in 1888.
2 people like this.
Reply 19 - Posted by:
Rumblehog 8/11/2020 3:10:52 PM (No. 506518)
Yep in Texas they're "line of thunderstorms" or a "squall line." I've never heard a meteorologist refer to a "derecho" in my life.
3 people like this.
Reply 20 - Posted by:
AntiStatist 8/11/2020 4:08:45 PM (No. 506589)
You think a derecho is bad, wait until you experience an izquierdo.
2 people like this.
Reply 21 - Posted by:
JHHolliday 8/11/2020 5:54:54 PM (No. 506774)
Seems like these names get dug up to hype the fear factor. The media is desperate for clicks and viewers. This is in contrast to their attempts to hide what goes against their narrative like all those 'peaceful protests' that have destroyed lives and livelihoods across the country. They have tried to turn the Chinese virus into the Black Death all the while denying that our wonderful friends, the Chinese, are responsible.
2 people like this.
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