What is a "Derecho"

There was a terrible storm that hit part our area back on June 29th. This powerful storm left thousands of people without power in the Washington D.C Metro area.  Meteorologists kept saying that is was a Derecho.  A "Derecho" is a Spanish word for Straight and this is regarding the type of winds that this type of storm brings.

It is a widespread, long-lived, straight-line windstorm that is associated with a fast-moving band of severe thunderstorms. Generally, derechos are convection-induced and take on a bow echo form of squall line, forming in an area of wind divergence in the upper levels of the troposphere, within a region of low-level warm air advection and rich low-level moisture. They travel quickly in the direction of movement of their associated storms, similar to an outflow boundary (gust front), except that the wind is sustained and increases in strength behind the front, generally exceeding hurricane-force. A warm-weather phenomenon, derechos occur mostly in summer, especially during June and July in the Northern Hemisphere, within areas of moderately strong instability and moderately strong vertical wind shear. They may occur at any time of the year and occur as frequently at night as during the daylight hours. 
 Definition by and more detailed information at;  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Derecho


As of today, the National Weather Service and The Storm Prediction Center, is monitoring a possible repeat of this storm that may come near us tomorrow to the north of Philadelphia  (7-26-12)

Here is a video of that last event.

Hurricane Irene, Long Island NY

Here is a video I found from a group of storm chasers that I follow online.   This is a documentary of them filming the effects of Irene in Long Island NY, I think they did a really nice job of conveying the dangers of the flooding and their video shows a tree falling on wires.  The worst thing to do is to underestimate the danger of a storm, you really need to be prepared for something like this. 

For new readers, you can catch up with my earlier posts with photos regarding Irene and it's effects in our area here; http://climatedriver.blogspot.com/search?q=Irene

 

Two Satellites & a Storm

Current Weather and Technology Events

• Be aware that two fonts may meet in our area that initially there was a slight chance of forming a classic Nor'easter.  Recent weather reports do not seem to indicate this at this present time, anyway we will receive lots of rain and possible thunderstorms.  Remember that we received record rainfall last month and it would not take much rainfall to see flooding conditions. 

•  A German Xray satellite is expected to fall from its deteriorating orbit, and crash into the earth later this week. Reports state that this could occur sometime between the 21st to the 25th.  The ROSTAT satellite has been inactive for over 10 years, and it was a project managed by the US, Britain and Germany.  Nasa states that they should make a formal public announcement two hours before final reentry.

To see a detailed live tracking map of it's actual position, please click here : ROSTAT Position map

•  Nasa is launching its brand new NOAA satellite on October 27th, this will allow Meteorologists to track storms, day maybe even weeks in advance. This represents a huge step in weather safety and climate change study.  I am really excited about the change that will be seen by this new satellite.
  

Here is an informative video about the launch and the function of NPP