Fortunately, this is not like the violent derecho we experienced on May 8 of this year with sustained winds of about 108 mph that resulted in millions of dollars in damage. The path of destruction that reach across all of southern Illinois take months if not years to clean up.
What kind of storms cause derechos? According to NOAA: Derechos are associated with a band of showers or thunderstorms that are often "curved" in shape. These bowed out storms are called "bow echoes." A derecho can be associated with a single bow echo or multiple bow echoes. The bow echoes may vary in scale and may die out and redevelop during the course of derecho evolution. In the northern hemisphere, derecho winds are occasionally enhanced by a rotating band of storms called a "bookend vortex" which develops on the north side of the bow echo storm system. Derecho winds can also be enhanced on a smaller scale by embedded supercells within the derecho producing storm system.
Today's storm was the type that requires that I run outside without an umbrella and dance. Remember 1952's "Singing in the Rain" with Gene Kelly, Donald O'Connor and Debbie Reynolds? Now you get the idea. Mild to moderate rain, flashes of lightening and "thunder boomers" as my dad used to say. Okay, call me Morticia Adams - you won't be the first. A sky that features continuous blueness and bright sun without a cloud is simply, well, boring.
(photograph courtesy of NOAA)
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