Above: A haboob, also known as a dust cloud, kicked up along with the derecho. (From Capital Weather Gang)
Yesterday (Thursday, May 12th) a severe storm complex brought intense winds from Kansas to Wisconsin in the evening. The strongest winds were mainly between eastern Nebraska and southwestern Minnesota, which included eastern South Dakota and northwest Iowa. By the time the storm was gone, over 70,000 people were without power, and at least one confirmed death.
The storm whipped up a dust cloud, or haboob, which turned the skies dark as night and moved northeast at 65 to 85 mph. This storm complex met the criteria for a derecho. To qualify for a derecho, a storm must have: Wind damage over 240 miles (Widespread) and wind gusts at over 58 mph for most of that length. A derecho will also typically have straight winds, but it can also form a couple of tornados, which in fact, did happen yesterday evening.
The National Weather Service issued multiple tornado warnings for the derecho, which included a confirmed tornado that brought damage to two homes and a school in Castlewood, South Dakota. Reports were also submitted to the National Weather Service which indicated that the high winds from the derecho uprooted trees, downed wires, flattened fences, and even peeled off entire roofs in more extreme cases. Trailers were also topped over.
Here are the numbers for some of the peak wind gusts in the affected areas:
102 mph in Deuel County, S.D.
97 mph in Madison, S.D.
96 mph in Wentworth, S.D.
94 mph in Madison, Minn.
90 mph in Huron, S.D.
89 mph in Ord, Neb.
80 mph in Artichoke, Minn.
79 mph in Graceville, Minn.
75 mph in Canby, Minn.
(Sources: Capital Weather Gang, National Weather Service.)
Author: Jackson Hammack.
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