The airwaves were inundated with emergency alerts Saturday as the skies swirled with menacing black clouds. It was hot and humid; ripe conditions for severe thunderstorms and tornadoes.
All we got were drops of rain. It wasn’t even enough to get wet! But others didn’t fare so well. In Ontario and Québec, eight people died, mostly victims of falling trees.
The storm was a derecho, ‘a long line of very active thunderstorms or microburst kind of situations’ according to a Climatologist at Environment Canada. Although there were no tornadoes reported, winds reached 120km/hr (74miles/hr.)
I’ve never heard of this weather phenomenon.
How’s this for a vivid and rather frightening explanation from the same expert?
“Imagine soldiers lined up and just mowing down the front lines as they move along. Meteorologically, that’s essentially what happens.”
Mother Nature; she’s a force to be reckoned with.
