Meadowlark
Well-known member
- Location
- East Texas
- Hardiness zone
- 9a
The storm that ripped through Houston, Tx last Thursday killing 7 people has now been officially classified as a derecho...by definition a widespread, long-lived windstorm associated with clusters of severe thunderstorms.
Typically, they travel over 400 miles and reach wind speeds that can exceed 100mph. The winds are straight line as opposed to tornados with rotating winds. At my house, about 100 miles from the primary zone, we were hit with very high straight-line winds but nothing like downtown Houston.
That storm still has left about 1 million people without power. Parts of the grid were destroyed, and rebuilding that takes time.
I can only remember one other such weather event in my lifetime...a freak derecho that hit our area back in 1989 "this derecho traveled 900 miles in 15 hours. Most of its track and the most intense damage occurred over northern and eastern Texas. It began in the semi-arid region of the northwest Texas Panhandle and surged southeast at a speed greater than 60 mph for 700 miles before reaching the densely forested region of southeast Texas about 11 hours later. Many thousands of Texans were affected by this intense derecho, and many still remember it as "The Great Storm of 1989."
It hit without warning capsizing several boats on our local lake.
If you are interested in weather read about derechos... an awesome display of Nature's power.
Typically, they travel over 400 miles and reach wind speeds that can exceed 100mph. The winds are straight line as opposed to tornados with rotating winds. At my house, about 100 miles from the primary zone, we were hit with very high straight-line winds but nothing like downtown Houston.
That storm still has left about 1 million people without power. Parts of the grid were destroyed, and rebuilding that takes time.
I can only remember one other such weather event in my lifetime...a freak derecho that hit our area back in 1989 "this derecho traveled 900 miles in 15 hours. Most of its track and the most intense damage occurred over northern and eastern Texas. It began in the semi-arid region of the northwest Texas Panhandle and surged southeast at a speed greater than 60 mph for 700 miles before reaching the densely forested region of southeast Texas about 11 hours later. Many thousands of Texans were affected by this intense derecho, and many still remember it as "The Great Storm of 1989."
It hit without warning capsizing several boats on our local lake.
If you are interested in weather read about derechos... an awesome display of Nature's power.
