destructive. Majors parts on Virginia were without power and trees even came down along I-81. Some areas were without power for a week or more.

Don't underestimate the storm, stock up on ice and other supplies, and stay safe.

Actually pulled up a portion of the roof in my studio. Water came pouring in and collapsed part of the ceiling. One of our apple trees was actually pulled out of the ground and tossed against the garage.

Derechos are deadly, folks. If there's one coming your way, take shelter and make sure you have your emergency supplies handy.

He should cancel it now

Just e-mailed her, sent the photo.
Even seeing this pic in the post made my stomach flop.
Gotta be a genuine come to jesus moment when this hits.

A derecho blasted through our part of Maryland a couple of years ago and mowed down huge numbers of trees.

For those in the warning area, take this seriously and stay safe!

keep something solid between you and the sky.

Southern IL is hilly and semi-forested, and you can still see damage to the trees. It was AWFUL!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/May_2009_Southern_Midwest_derecho#Southeastern_Missouri_and_Southwestern_Illinois

The temperature was 102 that day in most of Virginia and the storm hit us around 8:30 so we didn't see the color of the sky because it was getting dark. We had a little rain but the wind was phenomenal. We drove around the next day and it looked like every single Bradford Pear had exploded.

And I more hope that no one was hurt.

But the more Bradford Pears it can take out the happier I am!

Watching the storms to see if they will reach this far.

spanish word for STRAIGHT.
So these storm are suppose to take a straight path?
Or that they are at least 240 miles wide in a straight line and move
east destroying everything in it's path?

Either way it looks really ominous.
But hey let's keep voting in Republicans, stick our fingers in our ears,
close our eyes and ignore everthing climate change.

Everything will be all right!!!

Not sure what the connection is. Maybe they spin to the right.

If you're wondering, the word for left is izquierda, as in DUer a la izquierda.

Derecha is right.

izquierda = left
derecha = right

derecho = straight

(got that one wrong at least a couple times on Spanish quizzes, know'm say'n?)

it means both right and straight.

Now I'm really curious why these storms are known as derecho.

"long-lived, straight-line wind damage"

"Derecho/a" when used as an adjective meaning "right (as in direction)" can have either ending, depending on what it is modifying. But when you ask for directions, and they want to tell you "Straight ahead," they'll say "derecho, derecho." Interestingly, derecho also means "right" in the context of law, as "conocía sus derechos (he knew his rights)."

I used to live and go to school in Spain, although I heard this a lot in Mexico, too, not that it helped much. They'll tell you "derecho," and mean "a la izquierda, idiota de gringo."

By the way, that photo is of one EVIL-looking cloud in any language!

Muchas gracias.

Etymology

Derecho comes from the Spanish word in adjective form for "straight" (or "direct&quot , in contrast with a tornado which is a "twisted" wind.[1] 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.[2]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Derecho

through an area. They are like a squall lines on steroids. Imagine taking the strong winds and damage a tornado can do and instead putting it in a straight line. Instead of trees being down in every direction, they will be down in one direction, the path of the squall line of the derecho. Here in the mid Atlantic when we have them, they form a northeast to southwest squall line and move from west to east tearing down everything they can in their path. Usually, with a derecho, there will be more than one major damaging squall line from the derecho and it will train over the same areas over and over again, sending out squall lines over and over again.

Now, what can happen and often does, is that different temperatures in different areas in a derecho's path can break the squall line up and that is when you end up with individual rotating thunderstorms. That is when the tornadoes start forming.

The entire system looks like a hurricane on land, but the leading edge of the damage path of a derecho is like a ginormous squall line with some major power behind it. Very dangerous situation. Hope everyone in the path stays safe.

Last edited Tue Jun 3, 2014, 07:17 PM - Edit history (1)

Thanks for the thread, Omaha Steve.

Until that point in my life I had no real clue as to how destructive, scary, and unpredictable certain storms were.

Now that we are getting better at predicting tornadoes and obviously hurricanes and so on, it is some benefit, but overall with the extreme climate change realities, these events will become absolute nightmares over time.

Stay Safe!!

Take them JUST as seriously as tornadoes and hurricanes.

We were caught in one a few years back, out in open land in northwest Ohio. We were doing some geneaological research in a cemetery. When we got there, the sky was clear, but clouds were building in the west and we assumed it was just another garden variety thunderstorm coming, so we went on about our business, thinking we had a little more time before we had to quit. Then, literally in a matter of 10 minutes or so, everything went black. The wind picked up exponentially. This was the June 2012 derecho that began near Chicago and ended near Baltimore (if memory serves). We barely made it back to the car before it started doing serious damage -- we honestly thought we were either in a tornado, or one was close by. We saw roofing and siding blow off a building; our car was shaking; and a huge metal trash can hit the passenger door (my side -- luckily it bounced off without hitting the window). We managed to drive away from it, and what we saw heading back was almost as bad as that of a tornado -- loose livestock, limbs down, etc. And I understand the damage out toward Baltimore was much worse, and that was HOURS after it hit Ohio. We considered ourselves damned lucky to get out of it.

If anyone gets any kind of warning about one today, PAY ATTENTION!

The better bet would have been to find a ditch. Cars can be overturned by a derecho as well as by tornadoes. Cars are not safe places to be in storms, nor are mobile homes. That is why I am obsessed with watching the weather. I have to skedaddle and hightail it out of here to my mom's safe room with my cat when we have tornadoes nearby and when these derecho storms come through. It's amazing and fascinating, but deadly and terrifying at the same time. I am honestly surprised building houses below ground has not become a requirement in tornado alley and in areas that have these derechos most often. It would save billions of dollars in damages over time. If I could afford it, I would build a home completely underground with only a small building above ground for entry/ exit.

But we were scared out of our wits and had never gone through something like that, ever, even though we are both born-and-bred Midwesterners. We waited it out in the car for a few minutes before deciding to take our chances. It was headed east; we angled south-southwest. We had one of our kids with us who was absolutely petrified, so we had to act like we had everything under control so as to not make a bad situation worse.

I think I understated the time from when we first saw the dark clouds to when all hell broke loose. It was a matter of MINUTES, it was moving that fast. And I will NEVER forget the sight of that trash can barrelling right at me. If it had been picked up a few inches more, I would have been badly hurt.

I too have become an avid weather watcher. When I posted this (I don't get to DU as much as I used to) I was home, taking the day off work because the weather here was predicted to be bad -- derecho was mentioned -- and I didn't want my kids totally oblivious to it. (They're young teens.) I would go crazy if I weren't home and something like a derecho blew through.

Definitely, I think it should be a part of building code that houses that are built in a high tornado zone be 1) built to withstand winds (like in Moore, OK); or 2) have basements or other below-ground shelters. Preferably both.

a derecho hit DC and Maryland. It was nasty. The wind and lightening were the worst I have ever seen. Amazing, but horrible, all at the same time. Stay safe.