Derecho sweeps through northern Iowa, marking the state's fourth in less than two years

Weather officials confirmed a derecho struck Iowa on Tuesday — the fourth one in the state in less than two years.

The straight-line windstorm — along with hail reported in some areas — cut through the northern half of the state well into the evening, according to National Weather Service meteorologist Alexis Jimenez in Des Moines.

The derecho reached its peak as it swept through South Dakota and northwest Iowa and weakened as it moved into the central part of Iowa, Jimenez said. The most severe portion of the storm remained in the northern half of the state, though the southern half, including the Des Moines metro, still saw some gusty winds and rainfall.

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In Sioux Falls, South Dakota, the storm turned the sky an eerie green. It left thousands of Iowans without power until Wednesday morning.

Meteorologists recorded 68-mph wind gusts in Mason City, and 51 mph around 8 p.m. at the Des Moines International Airport. The weather service received multiple reports of downed trees and powerlines, primarily in the northwest part of Iowa.

A derecho can pack lethal gusts in excess of 100 mph — hurricane strength — across a front stretching many miles, and last for hours, as did the August 2020 derecho that swept the length of Iowa, leaving particularly devastating damage in Cedar Rapids.

An unprecedented cold-weather derecho in December 2021 spawned more than 60 tornadoes across the state.

Storms qualify as derechos if they have sustained winds of at least 58 mph and leave a path of damage at least 250 miles long, according to the weather service. They develop in the northern hemisphere, usually during warm weather, and may be accompanied or preceded by violent thunderstorms.

While derechos are a lot less common than tornadoes, they occur regularly in the Plains states. Among years before 2020 with notable derechos in Iowa: 1983, 1986, 1991, 1998, 2004, 2011 and 2014.

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"It's definitely not a new phenomenon," Jimenez said. "And, thankfully, not all derechos are going to be as intense as the one we can remember from 2020."

More: What is a derecho storm, how high are the windspeeds, and how common are they in Iowa?

Other Iowa derechos since 2020

Aug. 10, 2020: Known as a progressive derecho, the storm was fueled by a hot and moist environment. Straight-line winds traveled 770 miles from eastern Nebraska and South Dakota through Iowa, Illinois, Ohio, Minnesota and Wisconsin. Iowa was hit hardest by the derecho where more than 400,000 people were left without power. Wind speeds near Cedar Rapids were estimated at 140 mph, the most powerful in the storm.

Many of Cedar Rapids' 132,000 residents were left without power for up to two weeks. Fields of corn and soybeans were leveled by the storm. Crop damage totaled $490.8 million. It was the costliest thunderstorm in U.S. history. Damage from the storm reached $11.5 billion last year, up from an initial estimate of $7.5 billion.

Dec. 15, 2021: This storm was the first December derecho anywhere in the U.S. and roused Iowans during a tense day of severe weather. The serial-type derecho, produced by strong thunderstorms with winds that bow outward the storm, traveled at least 550 miles through Kansas, Nebraska, Missouri, Iowa and Wisconsin.

The strongest wind gust recorded in Iowa was 88 mph in Audubon, and the storm produced 63 tornadoes in Iowa, mostly in the northwest part, a record for any recorded day in Iowa history.

May 12, 2022: This storm produced 60 to 100 mph winds and was primarily in South Dakota and Minnesota, but also clipped northwest Iowa. In all 34 tornadoes were confirmed from this system with 19 in Minnesota, 13 in South Dakota and 1 each in Iowa and North Dakota, according to the National Weather Service.

More: Iowa may have been hit with both a derecho and a haboob this week. What do those weather terms mean?

Des Moines Register staff writer Philip Joens contributed to this article. 

Virginia Barreda is a trending and general assignment reporter for the Des Moines Register. She can be reached at vbarreda@gannett.com. Follow her on Twitter at @vbarreda2. 

This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Iowa's Tuesday storm system was a derecho, weather service says