Powerful Storm System Spawns a Derecho, Tornadoes, First Ever in Minnesota during December
An intense storm system triggered severe weather in the Plains, Upper Midwest on Tuesday into this week. The severe thunderstorms spawned a derecho and multiple tornadoes from Kansas, Nebraska to Wisconsin. Nearly 20 tornadoes were reported across Minnesota, Iowa and Nebraska on Wednesday. According to the NOAA data, Minnesota possibly saw its first-ever December tornado on Wednesday night.
There have been few reports of structural damage in some areas including roofs blown off, bent road signs, trees and power poles down and, in Kansas, a partial collapse of a building. However, there was no significant damage reported.
As per the NWS Storm Prediction Center, at least 55 reports of hurricane-force thunderstorm wind gusts over 75 mph were tracked across the Great Plains, Midwest – setting a one-day national record. Destructive winds gusts up to 100mph were measured near Colorado Springs, northern New Mexico and near Russell, Kansas. Peak wind gust of 107 mph was cloaked near Lamar, Colorado. Parts of Nebraska and Iowa measured wind gusts around 80 to 100 mph, and hail in few areas.
According to the poweroutage.us, more than 400,000 residents were without power in the impacted areas early Thursday. Iowa and Kansas have reported the highest amount of outages so far.
As per the NOAA reports, the storm system will taper off, with many of severe thunderstorm watches and warnings expiring overnight.
Iowa has only 6 confirmed tornadoes in December since 1950, with the last one (EF2) hitting the state on December 4, 2017. Meanwhile, Wisconsin has seen 5 confirmed December tornadoes since 1950 – all struck in 1970.
Also Read: Tornadoes Devastate Eight States in the US, “Quad-State Tornado” Might Be Worst in History
Assessing the impact
EigenPrism users can access the following quick links to track the storm system. You can immediately overlay the following footprints on your exposure:
- Rotational Track (24-hr) ending 2021-12-16
- Tornado Reports (24-hr ) ending 2021-12-16
- Wind Reports (24-hr) ending 2021-12-16
- Hail Reports (24-hr) ending 2021-12-16
- Daily Peak Wind Gust across NA for Dec 16, 2021
