Yikes: A Derecho! Hail, Lightning, Winds & Heat in the Midwest!

[3113]

From here:

An unusually massive line of storms packing hail, lightning and tree-toppling winds was rolling through the Midwest on Wednesday and could affect more than one in five Americans from Iowa to Maryland.

Meteorologists were even warning about the possibility of a weather event called a derecho (deh-RAY'-choh), which is a storm of strong straight-line winds spanning at least 240 miles. The storms are also likely to generate tornadoes and cause power outages that will be followed by oppressive heat, said Russell Schneider, director of the National Weather Service's Storm Prediction Center in Norman, Okla.

The weather service issued tornado warnings in several counties in Iowa, Illinois and Wisconsin. The National Weather Service said a tornado touched down near Belmond, about 90 miles north of Des Moines, but it wasn't immediately clear if it caused any damage or injuries.

Well, this sounds ominous...a derecho. When I first read that I read it as "drench-co."

Would everyone in the states threatened by this monster please check in and let us know you're okay?

 

[voluptuary_manque]

I saw the aftereffects of one of those in Ontario. In fact, I saw the aftereffects of one and lived through another. No fun at all! The rain hit the window of the cabin so hard that it ran both down and up the pane and leaked through the sash. The loss of timber from downed trees must have run into the millions. Sure glad I wasn't out in a tent . . .

 

[sheablue]

The storm kind of broke up before it got to us. It all became kind of ... meh. Just a regular thunderstorm, though the city and other areas got hail.