Derechos Not New To The Midwest, But December Derechos Are

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Powerful straight-line winds, punctuated by tornadoes, raced across the central U.S. on Wednesday. The National Weather Service received about two dozen tornado reports, mostly in Nebraska and Iowa. Additionally, radar indicated the potential for many more touchdowns.

Meteorologists and climatologists across the U.S. say the straight-line winds and tornadoes were unlike anything they had seen before. "We're all surprised," said Doug Kluck, director of the Central Region Climate Services for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Given the 650-mile-plus path of wind damage, from Kansas to Wisconsin, the weather system officially meets the definition of a derecho, a long-lived, powerful straight-line windstorm.

It's possible, scientists say, that this month's tornadic storms reveal a change taking place in winter weather. "Now more than ever, we can't use the calendar as a tornado safety tool," said Bob Henson, a meteorologist and contributing writer at Yale Climate Connections. Sure, tornadoes have occurred before in December, he said, but not nearly in the number and spread as happened Wednesday. Nor to the deadly extent of last week's tornadoes that killed more than 70 people in Kentucky alone.

"We can't look at the calendar and say, 'It's December; we can't have tornadoes,' " he said. "It seems like the deck is being reshuffled." And as this storm showed, the danger isn't just tornadoes. Wind speeds reached 93 mph in Nebraska and 100 mph in Kansas, according to the weather service. The wind fueled deadly dust storms and devastating wildfires. Dust from Kansas and Colorado is believed to have traveled all the way to upper Wisconsin.

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https://omaha.com/news/state-and-regional/nebraska-storm-raises-question-are-tornadoes-derechos-now-part-of-winter-weather/article_5e6b5a2c-5e27-11ec-8ffd-7f61bcc4dab1.html?fbclid=IwAR0x2IFumoQ8oyeh8HrsWL_y7D1iSDwZ9pDMzUjHhYtidQDWb9uMqs3J5Ss#tracking-source=home-top-story-1