Nine years ago tonight (Tuesday) DC got hit by one of the most violent storm complexes in memory,

[elleng]

the 2012 derecho. It swept through after DC's hottest June day on record when it hit 104 degrees. Winds roared to 60-80 mph toppling thousands of trees. From the archives, here's CWG recap written the day after: https://wapo.st/3joRNG0

[bottomofthehill]

1. Oh my, it was crazy.

The wind was howling so loud it was like the sound of a train. We had no electricity for 5 days then it came back on for the better part of a day then went back out for almost 3 more.

It was maddening, we could see houses that had electricity on the other side of the Main Street that ran through our sub division. 2/3 of the houses had power and the rest were out of luck, but could see the lights.

We had some great neighbors that invited us over to help cool us and the dogs. It was hot and humid for days after the storm. We had a block party where everyone dragged their grills to the street and cooked everything in the freezer that had thawed.

On the bright side, out neighborhood Giant and Safeway were on the side of rhe street that had electric, so there were days of “just in time” shopping.

Northern VA was a disaster. It may have been worse than Hurricane Isabel which was just a few years before.

[IronLionZion]

2. I remember it well

I had power but several friends around Bethesda, Silver Spring, and Baltimore area didn't for up to 7 days. So folks came over to my place to charge up phones, keep their groceries cold, and hang out with power.

For the most part, I was studying for a certification exam so I just kept focused on that. But the test center in bethesda was closed so I had to reschedule for a later week. It was very frustrating trying to convince the folks in the India call center that a good chunk of America near the capitol city had no power for 7 days. They just didn't believe it so I had to keep on calling them.

The very day I moved to Maryland from Virginia, there was a major earthquake in August 2011. All that felt biblical at the time but pales in comparison to 2020.

[appalachiablue]

3. I recall it for sure, we headed to Delmarva.

After a day or so, bagged it, thank heaven.

[peppertree]

4. Appropriately enough, it means 'to the right'

And they certainly launched an all-out assault on the institutions that year (and the previous one) - but, thankfully, failed.

That time.

[Cheezoholic]

5. That event started in ChiTown around noon...

By midnight it was moving into DelMarva
NWS page for the event......

https://www.spc.noaa.gov/misc/AbtDerechos/casepages/jun292012page.htm#