Over 200,000 are still without power after an extreme weather event referred to as an “inland hurricane” rampaged across the Midwest on Thursday.
Published Jun 29, 2023 3:46 PM EDT | Updated Jul 1, 2023 11:20 AM EDT
An intense line of destructive thunderstorms known as a derecho wreaked havoc across the central United States on Thursday, blasting the region with tree-snapping winds on par with a Category 2 hurricane.
Over 225,000 electric customers were still without power on Saturday morning across Indiana and Illinois in the wake of the derecho, according to PowerOutage.us, and it may not be until later this weekend until power will be restored to some residents. At the peak, over half a million were without power on Thursday evening.
Fields of corn were flattened by wind gusts up to 100 mph, with a photo showing a farmer in New Berlin, Illinois, located 75 miles northeast of St. Louis, standing in a field where tall stalks stood prior to the derecho.
"Some of this corn is likely to recover, straighten up and end up producing a normal yield," Senior Commodity Meteorologist Dale Mohler said. "However, some fields may not recover and there will no doubt be some crop loss."
Emergency crews respond to a flipped tractor trailer on Interstate 55, south of Springfield, Illinois. Several semi-trucks were toppled as a line of severe storms and powerful winds swept through the Midwest Thursday afternoon. (Illinois Department of Transportation)
The line of storms moved swiftly across the region, racing eastward at speeds of 70 mph, faster than some traffic on highways across the region.
The Illinois State Police reported multiple rollovers on Interstate 57 in the wake of the derecho. A section of Interstate 55 was closed through Thursday night due to downed power lines across the highway.
Strong winds also sliced through the Canadian wildfire smoke that lingered over Illinois and Indiana, helping to improve the unhealthy air quality that has plagued this region of the Midwest since Tuesday.
A radar loop showing the progression of the derecho on June 29, 2023.
The cluster of thunderstorms initially fired early Wednesday night over northeastern Colorado and swept across southern Nebraska throughout the night. The storms strengthened over southern Iowa and northern Missouri on Thursday morning and blitzed eastward throughout the day, eventually plowing over Illinois and into Indiana by Thursday afternoon. The storms eventually weakened as the derecho moved into Kentucky on Thursday evening.
AccuWeather meteorologists declared the storm cluster a derecho early Thursday afternoon.
A derecho is a line of strong thunderstorms that produces frequent wind gusts of at least 58 mph over the span of at least 400 miles. During particularly dangerous derechos, wind gusts can exceed 100 mph.
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As of Thursday night CDT, the highest wind gust from the derecho was 100 mph in places such as Roseville, Illinois, located about 60 miles west of Peoria, and in La Harpe, Illinois. Winds of 100 mph are common near the center of a Category 2 hurricane.
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