Monster Derecho Travels 1000 Miles From Iowa To New Jersey Causing Massive Damage, Cutting Power To Over 2M

Chart shows the 600-1000 mile journey of this derecho (Courtesy of the National Weather Service)

A cluster of thunderstorms which started yesterday morning in Iowa just as the hot dome was beginning to heat the air to the south, started to push east bringing dramatic shelf clouds, driving rains, gusty winds and lightning through the Chicago metro. The storms intensified, stretching out as they cut through Indiana, Ohio and Pennsylvania, feeding off the increasingly hot, sticky air. Winds gushed to well over hurricane-force as the long, bow echo of intense thunderstorms raced southeast, slicing through mid-90s over PA and upper 90s through eastern PA.

While Indiana and Ohio bore the brunt of the Midwest damage during the late morning/early afternoon as these storms became intense, entering a cauldron of 100-degree air. Violent downdrafts slammed the ground producing 70-90 mph winds which tore trees down left right and centre as well as power lines. These winds forced much cooler air from below down to the surface, rapidly dropping temperatures from the upper 90s/low 100s to the 70s. Indianapolis dropped from 99 to 79 in 30 minutes.

There was over 800 wind damage reports from this derecho from Iowa to New Jersey from early morning to around midnight (Map courtesy of NWS)

The storms, while powerful as they raced from western PA to just west of Philadelphia, Baltimore and Washington, grew more intense as they encountered the hotter air (low 90s over the Appalachains) to low 100s around DC and 98 in Philadelphia, this forced these 60 mph storms to slam into the DC-Baltimore metro areas with tremendous force. Winds widely blew through this populated region of the Mid-Atlantic with 70-80 mph cutting power to some 2.3 MILLION last night as huge trees came crashing down all around.

This Derecho could well go down in the history books on a day which already made history. Washington DC topped out at 104, setting a new June record while points further south saw new all-time benchmarks for heat.

Often when there is a massive and exceptionally intense hot dome, a ring of fire sets up around the periphery where the jet stream flows and cooler air is present on it’s north side. This system rode the jet from Chicago to Washington in roughly 12 hours, slicing the heat but doing so in violent fashion and at high cost.

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