What is a derecho? The storm that turned the sky green in the US

Extreme weather phenomenon are more common these days. With climate change induced by anthropogenic factors, there has been a rapid increase in related extreme weather events.

Four US states- Nebraska, Minnesota, San Diego and Illinois were on July 5 hit by a storm system known as ‘derecho’. They mostly occur across central and eastern parts of the United States.

The storm that led to the sky turning green is called derecho. As per the US’s National Weather Service it is “a widespread, long-lived, straight-line windstorm associated with a band of rapidly moving showers or thunderstorms”. Derecho comes from the Spanish word ‘la derecha’ which means ‘straight’.


The May 8, 2009 “Super Derecho” was one of the “most intense and unusual derechos ever observed” in the US as it swept from Kansas to Kentucky with wind speeds reaching up to 170 km/hr.