What is a ‘Derecho’?

This looks like a scene from ‘Stranger Things’ — here’s what the rare weather phenomenon ‘derecho’ really is 🌩

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[AxelXionSora]

As someone who lived through hurricanes in Houston they’re like short term hurricanes that form over land as opposed to over oceans.
Hurricanes =ocean
Derecho= land

[catherine]

So crazy. I’ve been into meteorology since I was a kid and I only heard about derechos a few weeks ago. My mind is blown, these things are INSANE and I feel like nobody talks about them! I feel so bad for the people who had to deal with the destruction 😢

[jbmanifestor]

Just experienced one last night in Tulsa. Power is still out and could be out for days for some people. It was pretty terrifying.

[nihlifi]

We had a massive derecho in Iowa back in 2020. It crossed the entire length of the state and even moved into the next state. At it's peak, the winds were gusting up to 140mph with sustained wind speeds of 100+mph. As it was passing over us, it lasted nearly 30 minutes. The winds were so strong they caved in grain silos and bent the steel of radio towers. They are no joke.

[chloefan]

For an explanation for a Derecho: A Derecho is a type of Mesoscale Convective System, it is the cause of tornadoes, severe weather, and the tornado outbreak of July 13-16. Derechos can be larger than your average supercell and can be formed by convective supercells, when the Derecho is dying, it will turn into a Squall line or Bow Echo. Squall Lines are thinner derechos, and Bow Echos are shaped Bow Storms.

[smileyfacemc]

Experienced a derecho in Illinois last year in late June, 2023. I was teaching a summer course for kindergartners at the time, and the kiddos were all very confused as to why the sky was so dark that the street lights were turning on. Must’ve been weird to them considering most of the time, when the sky is dark, they’re already at home and getting ready for bed.

[samwilbur]

We just had a Derecho in Australia on Christmas night. We're still without power and all the trees and powerlines in my area got flattened and broken in half. First time I've ever experienced something so crazy

[CountryItUp]

i live in brookings, just north of sioux falls. this storm was the worst one id ever experienced

[sillylilkoala]

In August 2020 I experienced the derecho that passed through northern Illinois. It was pretty scary. That storm did the most damage in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. It came a long way to us.

[Bayliss]

We just had one in Houston. 121mph in a major city. The destruction is massive.

[Crosbhealach]

Experienced it once in Southern Quebec in 1999. The "Lake of the Woods" Derecho made it that far. It lasted 2hrs and there was so much lightning that you could read by it

[Trancemaster]

Last summer's derecho in Ontario Canada traveled 998 kilometers over 9 hours 😳 the sky turned green, with extreme winds😢

[jamespyle]

While living in that purple bullseye, these are common occurrences more so than tornadoes but its like the power only goes out half the time. The other half of power outages are squirrels and drivers running into utility poles.

[bmxkilo]

I was in the iowa one in august 2020 and I was in a car outside in Cedar Rapids where it was reported to be the worst, 140 mph winds apparently

[renegard]

I've experienced two first hand. First was in 2008, storm popped up out of nowhere, snapped a 100 year old oak in our yard like a twig. Weird thing was that it had a super narrow band of destruction. Just 15 minutes north or south and it's like nothing ever happened. Second was the 2020 derecho. When people around here mention "the storm, " they're referring to that one. It flattened half the state, you could see the damage from space. That thing had wind speeds equivalent to a category 4 hurricane, and we only had a few hours' notice before it hit.

[cerberus]

Wildlife starts running out of the woods instinctively and the darkness rivals night. I've been through tornadoes and hurricanes, and they don't come close to derechos in my experience. Terrifying!

[ryanfallon]

I live in Sioux Falls and yes the sky was that exact shade of green! Lost a few trees in my neighborhood but didn't see a lot of house damage. It was about two and a half hours though of non-stop high speed winds and rain.

[xploreourterra]

I'm from India, in 2016 in hyderabad i experienced a powerful thunderstorm that lasted throughout the night, similar to derecho But less winds i guess

[notthedoctor]

I experienced one in 1998 as a kid in upstate NY. I'd never seen anything like that as extreme weather usually comes in the form of snow there. It was the middle of the night, so the sky didn't get green, but it did look like day time outside because the lightning was so intense. It caused a ton of damage and killed people. It happened on Labor Day and school was postponed for a week. It was very scary and I thought we were gonna die (but I was also awfully
scared of tornadoes even though I'd never experienced one).

[EAGaming]

I experienced the one on June, 29 2012 derecho in fort Wayne and a 91 mph wind gust was reported