Green Skies, Hurricane Winds As Derecho Races Across Five Midwestern States

[hatrack]

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The Midwest and the Plains states don’t get hurricanes. They get derechos — sprawling thunderstorm complexes that can travel hundreds of miles and cover multiple states with the impact of a 100-mile-wide tornado. Parts of South Dakota and Iowa, as well as Nebraska, Minnesota and Illinois, faced a derecho on Tuesday. It even turned the skies green in some areas.

Winds gusted as high as 96 mph in Huron, S.D., the same location that faced 90 mph wind gusts during an equally severe derecho back on May 12. Tuesday’s derecho also brought a gust to 91 mph in Agar, S.D., and 99 mph in Miner, S.D. In Dewey County, S.D., softball-sized hail accompanied winds gusting to 84 mph; the National Weather Service received reports of broken windows, and a machine shed and grain bins destroyed.

The Weather Service received scores of damage reports from South Dakota to Illinois from the violent complex of storms. The winds knocked down power lines and trees, some falling onto homes and vehicles. Tens of thousands of utility customers lost power. Ahead of the derecho, thousands witnessed skies turn an ominous shade of neon green, the heavens appearing borderline phosphorescent. While green skies are sometimes byproducts of thunderstorms, few meteorologists could remember having seen skies reflect that peculiar hue.

EDIT

During the late afternoon and evening, the light is already skewed red/yellow by the setting sun. The combination of yellow and blue light produces green, although experts in atmospheric optics still have some uncertainties about the overall process. Even by that metric, however, the colors exhibited by storms over Siouxland and along the Interstate 29 corridor of South Dakota, the James River Valley and northwestern Iowa were unlike any in recent meteorological memory.

EDIT

https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2022/07/06/derecho-green-sky-south-dakota/

[ProudMNDemocrat]

1. Friends in the Twin Cities posted photos of ORANGE skies

on their Facebook pages.

Dark grey where I am at. Not much in the form of winds, rain, or severe storms.