A fast-moving line of severe storms known as a derecho stretched from the Midwest to the South Carolina coastline, leaving three people dead and more than 350 damage reports in its wake.
The extreme weather phenomena started in central Nebraska in the predawn hours on June 21 and traveled all the way to Charleston by Saturday morning.
Friday morning’s storm was not isolated. https://t.co/qUkNHdkUjH
— FOX4 News (@fox4kc) June 22, 2019
Shelf clouds were seen along the line of storms. Major US cities, such as Kansas City and St. Louis, got a taste of strong winds and heavy rain from these apocalyptic-looking clouds.
The term “derecho” is Spanish for the word straight. It was first defined by physicist Dr. Gustavus Hinrichs in his paper in the American Meteorological Journal in 1888.
The National Weather Service defines derechos as “widespread, long-lived wind storms associated with a band of rapidly moving showers or thunderstorms.”
Here is the #weather snapshot for #Sunday, June 23. A strong storm system pushes into or through parts of the Plains and MS Valley. Expect severe weather from the south-central Plains and Mid-Lower MS Valley, while excessive rain is likely from the ArkLaTex to western OH Valley. pic.twitter.com/lloDdFVKSC
— National Weather Service (@NWS) June 23, 2019
Hurricane force winds and flash flooding are typical of derechos.
More than 14 states felt the impact of the storm.
Three people were killed Friday as a result of winds toppling trees onto vehicles and a boat, according to authorities.
The Kansas City Fire Department responded to a water rescue early Friday morning as streets in downtown flooded from the storms, CNN affiliate KMBC reported.
Flash Flood Warning continues for Jefferson City MO, Ashland MO, Holts Summit MO until 3:30 PM CDT pic.twitter.com/2t1ro9Znmj
— NWS St. Louis (@NWSStLouis) June 22, 2019
The National Weather Service in St. Louis tweeted that one of its radar sites was struck by lightning as the storms approached, resulting in a 30 minute outage.
In Nashville, Tennessee, the storms toppled tents in downtown that were set up for events this weekend, according to images posted on social media.
Downtown Nashville didn’t avoid the severe weather Friday night. Here are some pictures of tents that were blown onto a Metro Police car. pic.twitter.com/xbtBRxkyxj
— NewsChannel 5 (@NC5) June 22, 2019
