Storm that hit Northwest Iowa could be a derecho

A storm that moved Thursday across Nebraska, South Dakota and Northwest Iowa could have been a derecho, the National Weather Service said.

Wind gusts of up to 80 mph uprooted trees, overturned semis and kicked up a wall of dust as the storm swept through. The weather service received many reports of hail, ranging from a half-inch to over 2 inches in diameter.

“Looks like we've met the definition of a derecho again,” the weather service tweeted.

It’ll be up to Storm Prediction Center at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to decide. A derecho, according to NOAA, “is a widespread, long-lived windstorm associated with a band of rapidly moving showers or thunderstorms variously known as a squall line, bow echo, or quasi-linear convective system. Although a derecho can produce destruction similar to that of a tornado, the damage typically occurs in one direction along a relatively straight swath. As a result, the term "straight-line wind damage" sometimes is used to describe derecho damage.”

By definition, a derecho must include wind gusts of at least 58 mph.

On Aug. 10, 2020, a derecho swept across Eastern Iowa and caused the worst damage in Cedar Rapids, where gusts were reported of up to 140 mph.