Six years ago, a massive derecho caused billions in damage in Chicago area
Six years ago, on Aug. 10, 2020, a massive derecho left a trail of damage from its 100 mph winds in the Chicago area.
The derecho lasted for several hours as it tore across the Midwest from Nebraska across Iowa to parts of Wisconsin and Illinois and then into Indiana and Michigan.
A derecho is a complex of thunderstorms that produces a relatively unbroken swath of wind damage at least 240 miles in length, with wind gusts of at least 58 miles an hour along its path, as defined by the National Weather Service. The 2020 derecho had winds nearly twice the speed required by the NWS.
A Super Derecho in 2009 was one of the strongest on record, traveling more than 1,000 miles in 24 hours and causing $500 million damages as well as a handful of deaths.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration estimated the single day of extreme weather on Aug. 10, 2020, cost more than $11 billion, making it "the most expensive thunderstorm event in modern U.S. history," according to NWS.
Along with the derecho, 11 tornadoes were confirmed in Illinois from that one storm system. An EF-1 tornado touched down in Chicago's Rogers Park neighborhood. EF-1 tornadoes were also confirmed in Yorkville and Plainfield.
Other confirmed tornadoes from that day included touchdowns in Grant Park, Park Forest, Lombard, Wheaton, Marengo, Rockford, Camp Lake, Ottawa and an addition tornado in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin.
