Derecho; a damaging high wind weather event

“Derecho” is a Spanish word that means, “right”, or “straight ahead”. It was first used to describe a certain type of storm by the Meteorologist Dr. Gustavus Hinrichs in 1888. The Derecho storm type is a long line of convective (circular motion with warm air moving faster, becoming less dense and rising and cooler air sinking) storms that produce really damaging wind gusts.

The wind damage must spread over 250 miles, with wind moving 58 mph and sweeping wind gusts faster than 74 mpg  for a storm to be classified as a Derecho. They can cause damage worse than a tornado. Because of the warm air from the Gulf of Mexico and the cold air from Canada, the U.S. is an especially primed region for this type of storm.

Source: Rochester First