derecho

[prettygoodword]

derecho (duh-RAY-choh) - n., a widespread, long-lived, straight-line windstorm associated with a fast-moving line of severe thunderstorms.


Exact definition is difficult to pin down as meteorologists are still debating exactly what counts as a derecho, in terms of how long-lasting or widespread a system has to be. But if there's a line of thunderstorms moving transverse to the line, and it's not related to a large-scale front, and it's got strong linear (as opposed to the twisting winds of a tornado), then you've got yourself a derecho. I name-dropped tornado there deliberately, because the word was coined in 1888 by physicist Gustavus Detlef Hinrichs from Spanish derecho, straight/direct, to distinguish the winds from tornadoes, from Spanish tornado, twisted/turned.

---L.

Comments

[octahedrite]

There were a couple of these in Oklahoma this summer!

https://tulsaworld.com/news/local/weather/wet-june-brought-tornadoes-wind-damage-but-also-some-drought-relief-to-oklahoma/article_1c8d211a-1b5b-11ee-bbb9-cbecc3720738.html

[prettygoodword]

We get them every so often in the Arizona desert, often accompanied with dust storms.

[dewline]

A word that Ottawa was forced to become all too familiar with in May of 2022. First-hand.

[prettygoodword]

Fun times.

[dewline]

The house I live in had shingles torn off and we waited a month or four for the repairs to get done, if memory serves. Granted, no deductible had to be dealt with that time.

I saw other parts of the city that had less fun than we did.

[mount_oregano]

We had a memorable one in 2020. It broke a few windows and a glass lobby door in my apartment building here in Chicago, and we considered ourselves lucky.

August 2020 Midwest derecho - Wikipedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/August_2020_Midwest_derecho#

[prettygoodword]

They can be surprisingly strong.