THE GREAT DERECHO, 4 YRS LATER

August 10th 2020, A powerful derecho traveled from southeast South Dakota to Ohio, a path of 770 miles in 14 hours producing winds of up to 140 mph. The states most affected included Iowa, Illinois, Minnesota, Indiana and Ohio. This derecho caused widespread damage to millions of acres of corn and soybean crops across the middle of Iowa. There was also severe damage to homes, businesses and vehicles, particularly in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Total cost exceeded 11 billion dollars. This was only the third severe weather event (since 1980) with inflation-adjusted costs over $10.0 billion, joining the late-April and May 2011 tornado outbreaks across the Southeastern and Central states, respectively. To this day, this is still considered to be the worst thunderstorm complex in United States history not associated with a major tornado.

IOWA'S INLAND HURRICANE

PAUL BROOKS, THE INLAND HURRICANE APPROACHING

                       BEFORE                                 AFTER

WHAT IS A DERECHO

A derecho (pronounced similar to "deh-REY-cho" in English, is a widespread, long-lived windstorm. Derechos are associated with bands of rapidly moving showers or thunderstorms variously known as bow echoes, squall lines, or quasi-linear convective systems. Although a derecho can produce destruction similar to that of a tornado, the damage typically occurs in one direction along a relatively straight path. As a result, the term "straight-line wind damage" is used to describe derecho damage. By definition, if the swath of wind damage extends for more than 250 miles, includes wind gusts of at least 58 mph along most of its length, and also includes several, well-separated 75 mph or greater gusts, then the event may be classified as a derecho. Recently, an updated definition of "derecho" was proposed. The primary aim of this work is to make the definition more physically-based, i.e. focused on the meteorological processes believed responsible for the production of organized, damaging surface winds. The proposal requires the presence of certain radar-observed storm structural features such as bow echoes and rear-inflow jets.

Cedar Rapids, (Iowa's second largest city) was severely impacted with damage to 90 percent of its homes and a complete loss of power for up to 12 days. Up to 40,000 trees were downed. The city was also ravaged by the 2008 flood, which I believe rank #1 and #2 in terms of Iowa's all time natural disasters.

Interestingly, Gustavus Hinrichs made the distinction between a tornado and a derecho while at the University of Iowa in the mid 1880s. He's credited with being the originator of the term derecho and is considered one of the most important figures in early severe weather research. Aside from his work in theory, he created Iowa's first weather service and had an observatory in Iowa City.

EARLY SIGNS OF TROUBLE AUGUST 10th

By daybreak Monday, trouble was brewing as a line of storms entered NW Iowa. Progressing east, They entered a very unstable atmosphere in central and eastern Iowa, where high CAPE and BULK SHEAR existed. Prior to winds reaching 100 mph, CAPE values in eastern Iowa reached 5000 j/kg. That's tremendous potential energy.

Available water vapor, (measured in PWAT's) was as high as 1.8 inches.

The microburst composite (showinga high likelihood of damaging winds) looked like this a couple hours before storms arrived

THE WRITING ON THE WALL

 For meteorologists in the know, the writing was on the wall for destructive winds based on the above ingredients and developments on radar by early to mid-morning. Forecasters at the Storm Prediction Center upgraded their severe weather outlook to moderate after a minimal threat was issued just 12 hours earlier.

They also issued a 45 percent hatched outlook for damaging winds. An extremely high assessment indicating a 45 percent risk of damaging winds within 25 miles of a given point

In a final move of confidence, SPC issued a rare PDS thunderstorm watch. It stressed that a particularly dangerous situation existed for severe wind damage with gusts to 100 mph, and possible QLCS tornado spin-ups.

SPC hit the "wind threat" hard with a high risk of severe winds, depicting a 90 percent chance of 10 or more severe wind events with at least one containing a 75 mph gust.

A PLETHORA OF DAMAGING WINDS

By evening, there were 772 reports of damaging winds from the derecho, which was still in progress across Ohio and Indiana. A swath of damage from Benton County, through portions of Linn, Jones, Cedar, and Clinton Counties, was consistent with intermittent straight line winds in the 100-130 mph range. Maximum estimated winds were around 140 mph, which caused extensive damage to an apartment complex in southwest Cedar Rapids, IA. The maximum measured unofficial wind gust was 126 mph at Atkins, Iowa in Benton County. That is still the highest wind gust ever measured in Iowa.

The strong winds of 100-140 mph were confined to a band close to the HWY 30 corridor running west to east through central Iowa. For perspective, it's as if a 30-mile wide EF2 tornado traveled a path from central Iowa to the Mississippi River. Power outages were extensive with a total 1.9 million people losing power. In Cedar Rapids, Iowa, 95 percent of the city lost power, some for more than 2 weeks. Nearly 2/3rds of the cities tree canopy was destroyed.

THE RADAR SPEAKS VOLUMES

 At the height of the derecho's strength between noon and 1:00pm, the Doppler looked like this. The bow, in the complex between Cedar Rapids and Iowa City, is a tell-tale sign of powerful winds. You can also see storms aligned west to east along a well defined warm front south of HWY 20 helping to enhance the vertical bulk shear.

The velocity mode shows that near the apex of the bow, a pocket of very intense winds were producing gusts of 95-140 mph thanks to a pronounced rear inflow jet and bookend vortex approaching Cedar Rapids.

WINDS EQUAL TO AN EF 2 TORNADO OR CATEGORY 2 HURRICANE

These are some of the strongest straight line wind gusts which would qualify as an EF 2 tornado or a category 2 hurricane.

ATKINS 124

MIDWAY (near HIAWATHA) 112

ALBION 106

HIAWATHA 100

TAMA 100

MARSHALLTOWN 92

DAVENPORT 86

IOWA CITY 80

ROCK ISLAND/MOLINE 79

The KGAN road warrior tracking the system live, was occupied by one of my former meteorologists at the station, Nick Stewart. The vehicle was overtaken by the fast moving storm which then proceeded to blow out the vehicle's windows. Nick experience some cuts from flying glass but said, "they were worth it to experience a storm of that magnitude". Later that day, he arrived home to find his apartment had been destroyed by winds of at least 130 mph.

Agriculturally, numerous corn and bean fields in Iowa were flattened by the big blow. Miles and miles of crops and grain bins were destroyed.

A stop sign bent and flattened by a 100mph+ gust.

THE POWER OF VIDEO

To appreciate the destructive power of the storm, I suggest you watch this video shot by Evan Hindman, of Cedar Rapids. The storm's fury lasted for a good half hour, and you can literally watch as his neighborhood is severely battered and stripped of trees and vegetation. It's really impressive to watch. A storm of epic proportions that may not be matched for a century or more.

Winds of at least 60 mph were measured in the shaded areas below, with the strongest speeds of 100 mph or more focused from central into EC Iowa.

Severe thunderstorm warnings were issued for every county in gray which roughly involves close to 190 counties.

Derechos such as this are a fairly common phenomenon in the Midwest. They are typically found in the heart of summer and rarely deliver strong tornadoes (EF-3 or greater). Here's the tracks of other significant derechos in our past. The states of Iowa and Illinois are right in the heart of a sweet spot centered on the Midwest.

Today's weather in stark contrast to 2020, is cool, calm, and collected. In fact, in some areas, record lows in the 40s occurred overnight. Pleasant, storm free (September-like) conditions are expected the remainder of the weekend. Happy 4-year anniversary derecho, may we never see another one like you again! Roll weather...TS

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ANOTHER 5-STAR REVIEW....thanks Myriam

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7 GREAT REASONS TO VISIT GALENA

1. It’s Steeped In History

2. It’s Home To One Of The Best Main Streets In America

3. The Restaurants Are Amazing

4. There’s A Lot To Do Outdoors

5. You Don’t Have To Travel To The Mountains To Go Skiing

6. It’s A Great Place To Spend The Fourth Of July

7. Did I Mention The Shopping?