‘It almost sounded like a hurricane’: Derecho weather events in the Chicago area since 1965

News Room

What is a derecho? This type of weather event is a widespread summer storm capable of traveling thousands of miles with hurricane-force winds of up to 100 mph. A Spanish word, derecho (deh-ray’-cho) is the term used for “straight ahead,” which refers to the straight-line wind direction (as opposed to rotary, tornadic winds) of these storms. Derecho winds can appear as a concave or bowed shape on weather radar. Here are the details of nine derecho events since 1965.

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