Storms Capable of Producing Derecho Possible in Midwest Today
By Brian K. Sullivan - Jun 12, 2013 8:03 AM ET
Storms capable of producing high wind, hail and possibly a derecho may sweep across the Midwest and Ohio Valley today, an area including Chicago and Indianapolis, the U.S. Storm Prediction Center said.
Almost 20 million people live in the region where severe thunderstorms may occur as the weather system grows, according to the storm center in Norman, Oklahoma.
There’s a chance of a derecho, a widespread, damaging wind storm, from Iowa to western Ohio and northern Kentucky, the center said.
“Models indicate the main corridor for widespread damage will be from northern Illinois into northern and central Indiana and into Ohio,” Ryan Jewell, a forecaster at the center, said in an analysis. “However, if the system grows larger than expected, other areas could be under greater threat, such as northern Kentucky, West Virginia and western Pennsylvania.”
A derecho swept through the Midwest into the mid-Atlantic a year ago, knocking out power to 1.9 million people in 10 states and the District of Columbia. It killed at least 18 people, according the Associated Press.
To be a derecho, a storm has to have wind gusts of at least 58 miles (93 kilometers) per hour and leave a swath of damage for a minimum of 240 miles.
Severe thunderstorms and the tornadoes that sometimes accompany them caused $15 billion in insured losses in 2012 and $25 billion in 2011, according to the Insurance Information Institute in New York.
more:
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-06-12/storms-capable-of-producing-derecho-possible-in-midwest-today.html
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