U-LOCAL AND THIS POWERFUL SYSTEM THAT HIT THE STATE YESTERDAY IS NOT BEING CLASSIFIED AS A DERECHO AND JOINS US NOW TO EXPLAIN WHY THAT IS. YEAH, WE HAVE TO MEET, YOU KNOW, SEVERAL STANDARDS OF CRITERIA FOR THAT TO BE CLASSIFIED AS A DERECHO. AND WE DID NOT HIT ALL OF THOSE. SO THAT’S THE SHORT ANSWER OF IT. WE WANT TO GO BACK IN TIME. THIS IS AROUND 5:00 ON WEDNESDAY. SO YESTERDAY EVENING THE STORMS WERE KIND OF ORGANIZING, GETTING A LOT STRONGER OUT TOWARDS LINCOLN. AND THEN AS THEY GOT CLOSER TO THE OMAHA COUNCIL BLUFFS AREA, THAT’S KIND OF WHEN IT ALL BLEW UP. WE HAD SEVERAL TORNADO WARNINGS. ONE OF THOSE CONFIRMED, BUT ALSO DESTRUCTIVE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNINGS. THOSE ARE THOSE FLASHING YELLOW BOXES THAT YOU SEE HERE. THAT’S WHEN WINDS ARE HIGHER THAN 80MPH. AND THAT’S EXACTLY WHAT SLAMMED INTO OMAHA AND COUNCIL BLUFFS. CHECK OUT SOME OF THESE WIND GUSTS 94 MILE PER HOUR WIND GUSTS MEASURED JUST NORTH OF THE METRO AREA FROM THE RADAR 88 MILE PER HOUR GUSTS. ANOTHER ONE OF THOSE STRONGER WIND GUSTS REALLY JUST INSIDE OF THAT CLUSTER OF STORMS. THEN LUCKILY, THOSE STORMS WEAKENED QUITE A BIT. THEY LOST THEIR INTENSITY AS THEY MOVED INTO WESTERN AND WEST CENTRAL PORTIONS OF THE STATE. SO THAT WAS GOOD NEWS FOR US HERE IN IOWA. WE REALLY MISSED OUT ON WHAT WOULD HAVE BEEN A DESTRUCTIVE STORM SYSTEM PUSHING INTO CENTRAL IOWA LATER ON IN THE EVENING. YESTERDAY. HERE’S THAT CRITERIA. THE THINGS THAT WE MET ARE THE GREEN BOXES WE HAD DEFINITELY FREQUENT WIND GUSTS OF 58 MILE PER HOUR WINDS OR HIGHER. DES MOINES INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT GUSTED TO. 66MPH LAST EVENING, AND WE HAD A FEW OF THOSE HIGHER GUSTS THAN THAT. WE DID NOT HIT THESE TWO CRITERIA. WE DID NOT HAVE THE WIDTH OF STORMS AT 60 MILES OR HIGHER, AND WE DEFINITELY DID NOT SEE THOSE STORMS REACH 400 MILES IN DISTANCE EITHER. SO THAT IS WHY IT’S NOT A DERECHO. AGAIN, THERE WAS A LOT OF CHATTER ON SOCIAL MEDIA ABOUT THAT, BUT IT’S REALLY AFTER THE STORMS COME THROUGH THAT YOU CAN CLASSIFY SOMETHING A
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Storms bring strong wind, but no derecho for Iowa
Winds were not strong enough in Iowa for it to be considered a derecho.
Anne Campolongo
Meteorologist
Thunderstorms rolled across the southern half of the state Wednesday, packing strong winds, hail and heavy wind, all of which caused some tree damage and left thousands without power.Video above: Explanation of a derechoDes Moines saw 3.55 inches of rain, which raised July's total to 8.99 inches. That's the sixth-highest total on record. Wind gusts of 66 mph were recorded at the Des Moines International Airport.Was it a derecho?For those wondering, neither of Iowa's storms Tuesday or Wednesday met the criteria to be called a derecho. In fact, there was a lot of chatter on social media before the storms even developed.A refresher on the criteria for a derecho in the graphic below: The storms on July 31st developed in Nebraska, just west of Lincoln. The cluster of storms quickly ramped up as it approached the Omaha metro. By the time the storms made it into Omaha/Council Bluffs, the National Weather Service Omaha had confirmed reports of wind gusts upwards of 75-90 MPH in these storms. The wind gusts at Eppley Airfield were consistently gusting between 60-80 MPH for 3o minutes at one point Wednesday evening. These storms were destructive thunderstorms that produced tornado like damage across Eastern Nebraska. It looked as though nothing would be stopping these storms as they exited Nebraska and moved into Iowa. The atmosphere in Iowa was able to support these storms, but they began weakening and started to appear less impressive on radar. This is likely due to very warm temperatures in the atmosphere just above the surface, likely suppressing the development of those storms. As the cluster of storms made it closer to Central Iowa, they continued to weaken even more. Although they were weaker than the storms that Omaha experienced, Central Iowa still saw several severe thunderstorm warnings with winds gusting to 66 MPH at the Des Moines International Airport. The cluster of severe storms moved across only 230 miles in Nebraska, concluding that this was not a derecho for Nebraska either. It was short of the 400 miles in length threshold. So in the end, this was not considered a derecho in Nebraska, nor was it one in Iowa. Remember, the official derecho classification comes after the cluster of storms moves through a geographical area. It cannot be predetermined. Here's a list of the state's highest recorded wind gusts July 31, 2024:Silver City in Mills County: 76 mphMissouri Valley in Harrison County: 69 mphDes Moines in Polk County: 66 mphMenlo in Guthrie County: 64 mphAtlantic in Cass County; Audubon in Audubon County; Lamoni in Decatur County: 59 mph » Download the free KCCI app to get updates on the go: Apple | Google PlayGet the latest headlines from KCCI
DES MOINES, Iowa —
Thunderstorms rolled across the southern half of the state Wednesday, packing strong winds, hail and heavy wind, all of which caused some tree damage and left thousands without power.
Video above: Explanation of a derecho
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Des Moines saw 3.55 inches of rain, which raised July's total to 8.99 inches. That's the sixth-highest total on record. Wind gusts of 66 mph were recorded at the Des Moines International Airport.
Was it a derecho?
For those wondering, neither of Iowa's storms Tuesday or Wednesday met the criteria to be called a derecho. In fact, there was a lot of chatter on social media before the storms even developed.
A refresher on the criteria for a derecho in the graphic below:
Hearst Owned
The storms on July 31st developed in Nebraska, just west of Lincoln. The cluster of storms quickly ramped up as it approached the Omaha metro. By the time the storms made it into Omaha/Council Bluffs, the National Weather Service Omaha had confirmed reports of wind gusts upwards of 75-90 MPH in these storms. The wind gusts at Eppley Airfield were consistently gusting between 60-80 MPH for 3o minutes at one point Wednesday evening.
Hearst Owned
These storms were destructive thunderstorms that produced tornado like damage across Eastern Nebraska.
It looked as though nothing would be stopping these storms as they exited Nebraska and moved into Iowa. The atmosphere in Iowa was able to support these storms, but they began weakening and started to appear less impressive on radar. This is likely due to very warm temperatures in the atmosphere just above the surface, likely suppressing the development of those storms.
As the cluster of storms made it closer to Central Iowa, they continued to weaken even more. Although they were weaker than the storms that Omaha experienced, Central Iowa still saw several severe thunderstorm warnings with winds gusting to 66 MPH at the Des Moines International Airport.
The cluster of severe storms moved across only 230 miles in Nebraska, concluding that this was not a derecho for Nebraska either. It was short of the 400 miles in length threshold. So in the end, this was not considered a derecho in Nebraska, nor was it one in Iowa.
Hearst Owned
Remember, the official derecho classification comes after the cluster of storms moves through a geographical area. It cannot be predetermined.
Here's a list of the state's highest recorded wind gusts July 31, 2024:
- Silver City in Mills County: 76 mph
- Missouri Valley in Harrison County: 69 mph
- Des Moines in Polk County: 66 mph
- Menlo in Guthrie County: 64 mph
- Atlantic in Cass County; Audubon in Audubon County; Lamoni in Decatur County: 59 mph
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Iowa weather: Check out these photos from Wednesday's thunderstorms
