I Learned Something New Today

The storms that passed through here yesterday were part of a 'derecho'.  The Weather Channel explains it HERE.  With the severe gusts we had as part of the storm, it was classified as a 'Super Derecho'.

Here is a graph that shows the frequency of occurrence by month:




These usually occur during mid-to late summer.  The recent heat wave has increased the probability of occurrence.

The derecho yesterday started in northern Indiana, with a wind gust of 91mph recorded in Ft. Wayne.  It took 12 hours to travel over 700 miles, almost 60mph.  Millions were left without power, and 11 people died.  The 91mph winds in Ft. Wayne are Category I hurricane winds.

An interesting phenomena, unfortunately people died, and property was destroyed.  This gives me something else to study, and apply to school safety.

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A Storm Rolled Through

Speedway, IN
Storms, bringing a bit of much needed rain to our area, came through late afternoon today.  It was a classic squall line.  Ahead of the storms came some very gusty winds.  In a previous blog entry, I described this phenomena.

As the storm clouds gathered overhead, the winds rose to a crescendo, then subsided, only to reappear again in a few minutes.  Debris flew through the air, and we found a little baby rabbit, dead, tossed into our front yard by the winds.

I noticed some rotation in the clouds over us and submitted a report to the National Weather Service.

This was a vivid reminder of the power of winds preceding a storm, and why it's important to pay attention to storm watches, as well as warnings.

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A screen shot of the radar showing the storm as it moves out of Ohio.  Note the light blue line ahead and below the storm.  This is the actual front, and is a radar echo of the winds.  This is a good radar image of a squall line.