A powerful thunderstorm complex was racing across the Midwest Thursday afternoon, blowing through the harmful smoke from Canada’s wildfires and clearing the air in its wake
The storm – referred to as a bow echo because of its arc-like appearance on radar – has a history of producing wind gusts close to 90 mph and has knocked the power out for thousands. A wind gust of 88 mph was reported in western Illinois early Thursday afternoon. More than 200,000 customers were without power in Iowa, Illinois and Indiana, poweroutage.us reported. A severe thunderstorm watch was in effect Thursday afternoon in Illinois and parts of Indiana ahead of the system.
The storm appears to meet the definition of a derecho: a destructive arc of thunderstorms characterized by dangerous, widespread winds. The straight-line winds in these weather phenomena can be just as devastating as tornadoes. A derecho must maintain a path of wind damage that is 60 miles wide and 400 miles long, while also producing wind gusts of 58 mph or greater along most of its length.
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