Everyone Okay With Heatwave & Power Outages?

[Sangye]

Our area was hit by that giant derecho storm last week while temps were over 100, and most everyone lost power for many days. My neighborhood was one of the very few that didn't sustain the least bit of damage or lose power at all. Thankfully I had A/C the whole time, though my car fan died and I couldn't go anywhere because it was so hot out.

Everyone I knew was in bad shape. Our temple lost power for many days but we managed to keep the 24-hr prayer vigil going despite temps in the prayer room over 100 degrees. Everything outside of our neighborhood looked like a bomb went off. Huge trees split apart, everywhere. There are still parts of Maryland without power and with downed trees blocking streets. About 2 days into it, our governor tweeted that repair crews were driving from Texas. DRIVING!! LOL

Before this storm none of us knew what a derecho was, and now every time we've gotten another severe thunderstorm warning we all get pretty worried.

The storm affected so many states at once. I hope no one here was harmed and didn't lose power.

[annekat]

Wow, thanks for filling us in on all of that... guess I haven't been paying much attention to the weather across the nation. I certainly had never heard the word "derecho", either. I'm glad your neighborhood was OK but sorry about all the damage and outages, not to mention the discomfort and frayed nerves.... Lets hope things settle down and get back to normal.

[vdub]

It's 104 here in WA right now. It's supposed to be 105 tomorrow. I think it's cooler on the coast tho. We had terrific hail and wind storms a couple nights ago, but I don't think any crops were damages. So far, the electric has been very steady and no problems. Certainly nothing like the problems in the northeast.

I feel bad for all those folks without power in this type of heat. I think if that happened here, I'd get in my RV and head for Swift Current and see Phil or maybe go way north and see Marta.

[annekat]

It's 104 here in WA right now. It's supposed to be 105 tomorrow. I think it's cooler on the coast tho. Yeah, its more like in the high 70's to mid 80's in the Puget Sound area and is supposed to be for the next week or so. There's been a bit of humidity along with the heat, but nothing like what those of you east of the Mississippi get, I'm sure.

[Sangye]

Wow, thanks for filling us in on all of that... guess I haven't been paying much attention to the weather across the nation. I certainly had never heard the word "derecho", either. I'm glad your neighborhood was OK but sorry about all the damage and outages, not to mention the discomfort and frayed nerves.... Lets hope things settle down and get back to normal.
They say a derecho is like a land hurricane without any warning. Basically it's a pile of multiple severe storms that converge all at once and form a huge, fast-moving storm with extreme high winds.

After it hit, there were 2.1 million people left without power, across several states. The main electricity provider here (Pepco) said 50% of its service went down, affecting almost all of Maryland and other states they serve.

[Sangye]

Today is the first day of "cooler" temperatures-- upper 80's-- in over a week. Most days it was 100-plus with east coast humidity. I'd step outside and just could not believe how hot it was! And I lived in Arizona for 11 years.

[Dirty Don]

Today is the first day of "cooler" temperatures-- upper 80's-- in over a week. Most days it was 100-plus with east coast humidity. I'd step outside and just could not believe how hot it was! And I lived in Arizona for 11 years.

You say 'derecho', I say 'haboob'...LMAO! It's only 111 here today, not bad...about 7% humidity! Already practiced and worked out this morning...not going out again! My best to you 'East coasters'...stay dry...oh, did I say that??????? LOL!

[Dryhill]

Well here in the sunny south-east of England today was a really hot 64 degrees and tomorrow promises to hit an high of 62. But the good news is the hose pipe ban has now been lifted, a pity about all the homes that were ruined by floods ........... water shortage? Come on pull the othert one its got bells on it.

Jim

[Sangye]

You say 'derecho', I say 'haboob'...
From Wikipedia:
A derecho is a widespread, long-lived, straight-line windstorm (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Straight-line_wind) that is associated with a fast-moving band of severe thunderstorms (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Severe_weather#Categories). Generally, derechos are convection-induced (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mesoscale_convective_system)and take on a bow echo (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bow_echo) form of squall line (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Squall_line), forming in an area of divergence in the upper levels of the troposphere, within a region of low-level warm air advection and rich low-level moisture. They travel quickly in the direction of movement of their associated storms, similar to an outflow boundary (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Outflow_boundary) (gust front), except that the wind (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wind) is sustained (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maximum_sustained_wind) and increases in strength behind the front (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Weather_front), generally exceeding hurricane-force

The huge storm that hit us even has its own Wikipedia page
June 2012 North American derecho - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/June_2012_North_American_derecho)
According to the article, this derecho "was one of the most destructive and deadly fast-moving severe thunderstorms in North American history."

[Dirty Don]

Similar, but I'll take the 'haboob' anyday, an Arabic term used in the media for desert sandstorms of huge proportions - here in the AZ desert they are sometimes over 1000 ft. high & 60 mis. wide, and swallow everything in sight, sometimes followed by thunder, lightning, and, hopefully, rain...they can lead up to monsoon seasons.

[vdub]

When I first heard the weather channel using the derecho term I thought it was probably something from Arabian Nights and hot Sahara Sun, but, suprisingly, according to wiki, it is a genuine North American term originating in 1888.

"Derecho comes from the Spanish word for "straight" (cf. "direct") in contrast with a tornado which is a "twisted" wind.[1] The word was first used in the American Meteorological Journal in 1888 by Gustavus Detlef Hinrichs in a paper describing the phenomenon and based on a significant derecho event that crossed Iowa on 31 July 1877."

[Jaha]

We were hit hard in this area and lost power for 6days. It was a very miserable and costly week. We had to find two generators one for our house and one for my mom's appartment that is built on to our house. Her boyfriend who is 85yrs old is on an oxygen machine and we had to keep that going. You really forget what a blessing air conditioning and a hot shower is until you don't have them.
Jana

[pberggren1]

I think this is what we call plough winds up here.

[Al]

Haboob, derecho--whatever, those convection storms just go to show that you can't fool Mother Nature. Not for very long, at least, and get away with it. The needs and desires of actual humans are of minor concern in the long run.

In any case, Don, I can't personally see hanging out, voluntarily, in the desert in July. You can't even play golf decently. Of course, it is all relative. As one local columnist put it, around here, 80 degree days is like putting banana slugs under a heat lamp--we shrivel. I do, at any rate. and it has been upper 70s and 80s in the Northwest for a few days now, and it has been hard on me. Can't sleep (very few houses in the NW have AC) so well, and I have been off my feed. Today is blessedly cooler, though.

Sorry to all you who have suffered. I have a spare bedroom....

Al

[Psyborg]

Lost power for a few hours the night the storm hit, but thankfully got it back quick. My uncle was without power for 5 days...nasty with the heat. It's funny how we get used to Air Conditioning, 30 years ago nobody had it and we just kind of suffered through the heat with fans. Of course the sheer number of air conditioners now actually made restoring power more of a challenge.

[Lightwarrior]

We are supposed to get to 116, which means it will probably be 120. Knock on wood, we have not lost power. Even the swimming pools have hot water. I heard about your derecho's , horrible!! A haboob is quite an experience, sand stings if you are unable to get inside.

[vdub]

We are supposed to get to 116, which means it will probably be 120.
But it's a dry heat.... :-)

[Sangye]

We were hit hard in this area and lost power for 6days. It was a very miserable and costly week. We had to find two generators one for our house and one for my mom's appartment that is built on to our house. Her boyfriend who is 85yrs old is on an oxygen machine and we had to keep that going. You really forget what a blessing air conditioning and a hot shower is until you don't have them.
Jana
Oh no, Jana. That must have been horrible. Glad you could find generators-- they were sold out everywhere.

[Sangye]

Lost power for a few hours the night the storm hit, but thankfully got it back quick. My uncle was without power for 5 days...nasty with the heat. It's funny how we get used to Air Conditioning, 30 years ago nobody had it and we just kind of suffered through the heat with fans. Of course the sheer number of air conditioners now actually made restoring power more of a challenge.
Yes, we are somewhat spoiled with A/C but 30 years ago we weren't having temperatures this high for this long. Here in Maryland the Weather service said the heatwave was hotter than anything in the history of the state!

[Sangye]

I have a funny story about an Arizona dust storm, though it wasn't a haboob. Many years ago my parents had moved to the Valley before it was built up and overpopulated like it is now. They were out in the boonies! They had just moved in and were outside sitting in lawn chairs one afternoon, when all of a sudden they both found themselves sprawled on the ground with upturned chairs and covered in dust and leaves. Apparently a "surprise" dust storm had blasted through without warning. Their neighbors later explained what had happened. ROTFL Still cracks me up all these years later.

[vdub]

I carry a small, quiet, Honda 2000 with us almost everywhere we go. I keep it in a locked box in our pickup. It wouldn't power an A/C or a normal home heater, but it will power fans, keep the fridge and freezer going and if in the winter it would power an electric blanket and small heater. I keep about 24 hrs of gas for it as well. I also have a weeks worth of freeze dried food all the time. It's nice to be prepared, but I don't go totally overboard. I could probably shut down the house and stay in our RV for several weeks if I had to, since it uses a lot less power and is totally self-contained. It even has it's own wifi and sat tv.

If I thought we would be without power for several days, I'd probably just pull the rv up to some cool mountain top and be happy.

[Sangye]

Gas stations quickly closed down when the storm hit out here. They had gas, but the cash registers wouldn't work without electricity. Like Gilda Radner used to say in her SNL skits, "It's always something!"

[vdub]

Not only that, but the pumps to get it out of the underground tanks are electric. I rarely let my vehicles get very low on gas.

[Sangye]

Oh yeah, I forgot about the pumps not working, too. Years ago in Arizona I had to evacuate my house due to a forest fire that was right on top of us. Cellphone reception stopped working in the neighborhood and I think the power went down, too. Even though the gas stations in town were not close to the fire they all had to close because the pumps couldn't run.

[KathyB]

Both locations in Virginia from which I fared for the past 19 years -- Lexington & Fredericksburg -- were impacted by the storms. Down here in NC, we did okay. Of course, the heat was miserable but at least we still had A/C! Hope all has improved for everyone!

KB:cool: