Wednesday, July 4, 2012

Strongest East Coast Derecho in Recent Memory


Derecho

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

A shelf cloud along the leading edge of a derecho photographed in Minnesota
derecho (play /dəˈr/Spanish pronunciation: [deˈɾetʃo]) is a widespread and long-lived, straight-line windstorm that is associated with a fast-moving band of severe thunderstorms. Generally, derechos are convection-induced and take on a bow echo form of squall line, forming in an area of divergence in the upper levels of the troposphere, within a region of low-level warm air advection and rich low-level moisture. They travel quickly in the direction of movement of their associated storms, similar to an outflow boundary (gust front), except that the windis sustained and increases in strength behind the front, generally exceeding hurricane-force. A warm-weather phenomenon, derechos occur mostly in summer, especially during June and July in the Northern Hemisphere, within areas of moderately strong instability and moderately strong vertical wind shear. They may occur at any time of the year and occur as frequently at night as during the daylight hours.

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