Derecho and Atmospheric Rivers-More Extreme Weather

Derecho was a new (to me) weather term that I heard used during the weather segment of our local news (on T.V.), might be a result of the changing in severity (to more severe) of weather systems due to global warming and atmospheric rivers are something I read about in one of my favorite magazines, New Scientist. Both qualify as extreme weather phenomena like intense hurricanes. Size and destructive capabilities are also an aspect of their definitions. Derecho is a widespread and long-lived windstorm that is associated with a fast-moving band of severe thunderstorms. These extreme weather systems stretch over 240 miles and have winds of 58 mph or often more. They sometimes produce downbursts, straight line winds that do as much damage as tornadoes, just without the rotation. An atmospheric river is a ribbon of moisture, sometimes as much as is found in the Amazon River, that gushes through the atmosphere and can be thousands of miles long. One of these atmospheric rivers even has its own name, the Pineapple Express, and it’s associated with heavy precipitation between the western coast of North America and Hawaii. When these atmospheric rivers dump their loads of water over land the flooding can be catastrophic. Climate change has an effect on these also because warmer air holds more water vapor.

As if hurricanes and tornadoes aren't extreme enough!