single frame: Derecho

Storm clouds

Derecho
Canon PowerShot S95
2020

Not long ago a derecho storm passed through. This is a storm characterized by heavy rain and straightline winds of 90 mph or more.

The storm cell stretched from south of Indianapolis all the way into Lake Michigan. The worst of the storm passed through northern Illinois and northern Indiana, causing widespread damage. In central Indiana we were in the least severe zone of the storm, which caused far less damage. We got plenty of rain, though.

We could see the storm cloud from way off. It was a giant shelf — sunshine outside it and darkness within.

The light was interesting as the shelf reached us. The sun outside the cloud still lit everything brightly, but the cloud itself darkened the sky. This gave the light a blue-gray hue, and boosted the sense of contrast.

I stepped out my front door to make this quick photograph before the rain started to fall in buckets.

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Comments

13 responses to “single frame: Derecho”

  1. brandib1977 Avatar

    Spectacular photo! We had a derecho here in 2013 and it was horrific. The entire county was without power for around a week, some longer. I cringe at the mention of the word.

    1. Jim Grey Avatar

      Far north of here in Indiana there were long outages and property damage. We just got a ton of rain.

      1. brandib1977 Avatar

        You got a lot of rain and a great picture!

  2. DougD Avatar
    DougD

    Never heard of a derecho, but that photo definitely says “I’d better get inside right now!”d

    1. Jim Grey Avatar

      Which is what I did directly after making this photo!

    2. J P Avatar

      I had never heard of one before either. We used the broader term “bad storm”, usually followed by “get inside “.

      1. Jim Grey Avatar

        That works just as well!!

  3. Kurt Ingham Avatar

    I love the dark sky, bright foreground! We get it her occasionally, but without the concomitant sorm!

    1. Jim Grey Avatar

      That strange juxtaposition is what sent me out the door with my camera. Such an unusual scene!

  4. C. Avatar
    C.

    My absolute favorite type of lighting. Especially with golden fall trees in the foreground.

    1. Jim Grey Avatar

      Golden fall trees would have made this photo perfect!

  5. Kurt Ingham Avatar

    A Spanish word for a Midwestern phenomena?

    1. Jim Grey Avatar

      Looks like it!

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