Still Fascinated, Horrified By Iowa Derecho

 Frankly, I still can't get over the Iowa derecho last Monday. You can tell, right? This is the third post I've done on it. 

During Monday's intense derecho, packing
winds of over 100 mph in some spots, an
airplane wind from somewhere landed on
this Cedar Rapids, Iowa house.

Now that some people are starting to get their power back, they're downloading videos of just how awful it was. And is.  Crops, as mentioned before, are in ruins. Many people don't have electricity back yet. 

 In towns and cities, once beautiful neighborhoods that had tall gorgeous and stately trees are now fields of strewn branches and tree trunks. A few trees still awkwardly stand, shaved of most of their branches. It's sad.

As of yesterday, many streets were impassable because of fallen trees, and people can't get out.

What gets me is the vast area covered by damage.  The damage is mostly equivalent to an EF-1 tornado (winds of 86 to 110 mph) and, in a few spots, an EF-2 tornado (111-135 mph)

Tornadoes are rarely more than a half mile wide and usually only have a track length of a couple dozen miles at most. The worst of the damage in Iowa is very roughly 200 miles long and 70 miles wide by my estimation, so you can what a toll this powerful derecho brought.

There have been many other very destructive derechos in the past in different areas of the United States, but this had to be one of the strongest

So, more videos.  You'll want to click on arrow in the middle of the images, then the YouTube logo on the bottom of each to see them in a bigger screen.  The first video is kind of long, but worth the watch because you get a vision of how the storm just seemed never ending.

In most violent thunderstorms I've experienced, the worst of the wind and damage is over within five minutes. This just went on and on.  Watch:

Here is a more brief video showing how the trees in one neighborhood are quickly dismantled by the wind. 

Notice the radar clocking the wind  speed inside an Iowa State Police cruiser stopped on a highway during the worst of the derecho:

Another view of the storm from inside a house in Marshall County, Iowa.  Wind gusts there were up to 100 mph.  The video cuts out before we learn the fate of that gorgeous tree over the picnic table. I hope it survived! 

Next up, a sad tour of downtown Cedar Rapids, Iowa in the immediate aftermath of the derecho. Lots of structural and roof damage, and all those beautiful trees in ruins!