the weather whisper september 2020 · the weather whisper september 2020 may 2019 nws des moines...
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Derecho Slams Iowa/Midwest K e n P o d r a z i k , M e t e o r o l o g i s t
The Weather Whisper September 2020
May 2019 NWS Des Moines
Cover Photo: Hourly time steps of
radar reflectivity showing the derecho
rolling across Iowa into Illinois, south-
ern Wisconsin, Michigan and Indiana.
Image created by NWS Chicago.
A very intense and long-lived thunderstorm complex brought widespread de-structive straight-line winds across Iowa on August 10, 2020. This is known as a derecho, which Iowa experiences about every 2 years, though admittedly not to the magnitude of the August 10th event. The term originated by University of Iowa’s Dr. Gustavus Hinrichs in the American Meteorological Journal in 1888. Dr. Hinrichs used this term is because in Spanish, derecho means “direct” or “straight ahead” and he coined it to distinguish straight-line wind damage from tornado damage. So, what specifically defines a derecho? Derechos are defined as causing widespread severe wind gusts of 58 mph or greater and several in-tense 75 mph or greater wind gusts lasting for several hours and must last for at least 250 miles!
The August 10th derecho will be in Iowan’s memories for years to come because of the widespread destruction it caused to power, crops, homes/businesses, and trees. The highest measured (unofficial) wind gusts was 126 mph in Atkins, Io-wa (Benton County). The most intense swath of winds occurred from near Mar-shalltown eastward through Cedar Rapids (See Figure 1) where widespread 70-80 mph winds occurred and several 90-110 mph were recorded with the peak wind swath of 120+mph around the Cedar Rapids area.
This derecho impacted multiple states as it travelled over 700 miles from eastern Nebraska into Indiana and southern Michigan. Here, you can find event sum-maries from the various NWS offices that were impacted:
NWS Des Moines NWS Quad Cities NWS Chicago NWS Milwaukee
Flattened corn at sunset near Adel, Iowa.
Photo courtesy of Lisa Schmitz.
Large tree fell into a house and sliding
glass door in eastern Greene County, Iowa.
Photo courtesy of Megan Holz.
https://www.spc.noaa.gov/misc/AbtDerechos/hinrichs/amj_hinrichs.pdfhttps://www.weather.gov/images/dmx/SigEvents/20200810_Derecho/Wind-derecho-SWAW.pnghttps://www.weather.gov/dmx/2020derechohttps://www.weather.gov/dvn/summary_081020https://www.weather.gov/lot/2020aug10https://www.weather.gov/mkx/StormSummaryAug10https://www.weather.gov/images/dmx/SigEvents/20200810_Derecho/NWSChicago_HourlyRadarTimesteps.jpghttps://www.weather.gov/images/dmx/SigEvents/20200810_Derecho/meganholtz7.jpghttps://www.weather.gov/images/dmx/SigEvents/20200810_Derecho/LisaSchmitz_Adel-DallasCounty (1).jpghttps://www.weather.gov/images/dmx/SigEvents/20200810_Derecho/DerechoStatewide_Wind_Estimate-FINAL.png
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Drought conditions persisted and expanded through August across many portions of Iowa as the weather pattern
remained overall dry. We also released our Iowa Drought Information webpage (https://www.weather.gov/dmx/
dssdrought) in August, which is a clearing house of information from numerous partners. On the webpage, you'll be able
to view the latest drought map for Iowa and the change in drought conditions over the last few weeks or months,
temperature and precipitation trends and outlooks, hydrology information from streamflow/basin conditions to
reservoir levels to soil moisture, and links to crop conditions and impacts to livestock. You can also submit your
local drought impacts by filling out a National Drought Mitigation Center survey, which will then appear on a map. If you
have any questions, comments, or feedback on this webpage, you can reach out to [email protected]
Drought Condit ions Continue to Worsen Across Iowa A n d r e w A n s o r g e , M e t e o r o l o g i s t
The image at right, courtesy of the Iowa
Environmental Mesonet, shows the number of
hours, per month, that Des Moines has
received rain (blue) compared to average (red).
Rain has been hard to come by through the
summer, and especially this month. Des
Moines has only recorded measurable rainfall
during 5 hours so far in August, a far cry from
the average of 33 hours.
https://www.weather.gov/dmx/dssdroughthttps://www.weather.gov/dmx/dssdroughthttps://survey123.arcgis.com/share/b87db006f28c4b4698f53ffe5942d9afhttps://universityofne.maps.arcgis.com/apps/MapSeries/index.html?appid=25e1be8e6bfe4f2aa9bd3ece9beb226bmailto:[email protected]://www.weather.gov/images/dmx/SocialMedia/WeatherWhisper/September2020/DroughtMonitor_08272020.pnghttps://www.weather.gov/images/dmx/SocialMedia/WeatherWhisper/September2020/Hourly_Precip.png
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Weather.gov/desmoines
Editor E-mail:
9607 NW Beaver Drive
Johnston, Iowa 50131
Phone: 515-270-2614
Chad began federal service by joining the USAF in 2001 as a
Meteorological and Navigational Aid (METNAV) Technician, later
earning an Associates degree in Electronics in 2009. After
separating from the military in 2012 Chad and his family moved to
Chad’s home town of Ft. Pierre, SD where he worked various jobs
trying to find where he belonged. Late last year, an old military
friend steered Chad towards NWS doing very similar duties to what
he did in the military. Chad and his wife, Heather, have been
married for 16 years and have three boys. Two of the boys are grown
up and out of the house and Brandon, who is 13, recently started the
7th grade in Waukee School Dist.
Kurt was born and raised in Madison, WI and graduated from
Wisconsin-Milwaukee with both a B.S. and a Master’s Degree in
Atmospheric Sciences. Kurt came to NWS Des Moines in early 2013
after beginning his NWS career at NWS Midland Texas in 2010. Prior
to his time in the NWS, Kurt spent four years as a broadcast
meteorologist at WEAU-TV (NBC Affiliate) in Eau Claire, WI. During
his time at NWS Midland, Kurt learned a lot, especially about fire
weather which was a big concern in that area. Since then he continued
to be an advocate for community preparedness and weather education
initiatives. Kurt will be continuing his career at NWS Green Bay as the
Warning Coordination Meteorologist. Kurt is excited to return to his
home state of Wisconsin, along with his wife and two sons. NWS Des
Moines wishes him the best!
Meet Chad Curtis—Electronics Technician
Meet Jessica Tweedt—Administrative Support Assistant
Good Luck to Kurt Kotenberg—Meteorologist
Jessica joined the NWS Des Moines team in June as the new
Administrative Support Assistant. Jessica grew up in Ankeny, Iowa so
central Iowa is home, though she lived in California for 2 years and then
spent 4 years living in Wisconsin before returning to Ankeny. Jessica
began federal service with four and a half years of service in the
Marines. We thank you for your service Jessica! In her spare time, she
has a passion for cooking and baking, as well as carpentry and other
DIYs projects. Jessica is mom to a beautiful 5-year-old daughter,
Guinevere, who recently started kindergarten.
http://www.weather.gov/desmoineshttps://www.facebook.com/NWSDesMoineshttps://twitter.com/NWSDesMoineshttps://www.weather.gov/images/dmx/SocialMedia/WeatherWhisper/September2020/CCurtis.jpghttps://www.weather.gov/images/dmx/SocialMedia/WeatherWhisper/September2020/JTweedt.jpg