Destructive derecho brings 100 mph winds to Iowa, blasts through Chicago along 700-mile path
By
Matthew Cappucci
Meteorologist, Capital Weather Gang
August 11, 2020 at 11:54 a.m. EDT
A vicious derecho, a fast-moving, violent thunderstorm complex, barreled through the Plains and the Midwest on Monday, bringing destructive winds along a 700-mile path that took it through the heart of Chicago. Wind gusts exceeding 100 mph ravaged Iowa, while there were confirmed tornadoes along the storms’ path, including one that swirled near the shore of Lake Michigan in Chicago’s Rogers Park neighborhood.
The violent windstorm killed one person in Indiana, and more than 1 million residents remained without power the morning after.
Along its path, fierce winds overturned trucks, flattened corn crops, and knocked trees onto homes and vehicles. Numerous structures were damaged in Iowa and northern Illinois. Social media images showed two-by-fours turned into projectiles that punctured the sides of buildings. In Wheaton, Ill., the winds toppled a church steeple.
The National Weather Service logged more than 700 reports of severe weather, including a wind gust to 112 mph in Midway, Iowa.
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Derechos are arcing bands of thunderstorms that produce wind damage, some significant, along a path exceeding 400 miles. Monday’s was a “progressive” derecho, composed of one main bow echo — or curved squall line — containing a concentrated swath of wind.
The wind was most extreme over Iowa and northern Illinois before storms fanned outward and brought slightly lesser winds to a much broader area.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/weather/2020/08/11/derecho-chicago-midwest-iowa-storm/