Drought and derecho – weather woes stack up for Iowa

On August 10, a derecho raced across Iowa bringing wind gusts over 90 mph and sustained winds of over 70 mph across the state of Iowa damaging grain bins, flattening crops, blowing semi-trucks off of highways, and causing numerous power outages. While the storm also brought rainfall, amounts were paltry and provided no substantial relief from drought conditions.

The derecho blasted straight through some of the worst drought areas of Iowa. However, the D3 (extreme drought) areas of west-central Iowa only received ¾ to 1½ inches of rain. Looking at the U.S. Drought Monitor Class Change map of the U.S., there was no appreciable improvement in drought conditions from the week prior, in fact, drought worsened in a small section of western Iowa. Unfortunately, the weather is not cooperating with farmers in Iowa.

A derecho (pronounced deh-REY-cho) is a long-lived storm that brings widespread damage that is not unlike that of a tornado. However, unlike a tornado, the damage occurs more in a straight line. In order to be classified as a derecho, the National Weather Service (NWS) specifies that a derecho must have wind gusts of at least 58 mph along most of its path and the wind damage must extend along more than 250 miles. Derechos typically occur during the summer months but occasionally have been reported in cooler seasons as well.

The derecho that ravaged parts of the Corn Belt on August 10 traversed 770 miles in 14 hours according to the NWS Storm Prediction Center. Wind damage reports neared 400 from eastern Nebraska to western Ohio. Several wind gusts topped 90 mph in central Iowa.

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