National Weather Service Weather Forecast Office

Destructive straight line winds from a rare derecho blasts through South Central and Southeast Kansas during the early morning hours on May 8th 2009.

Warm and muggy conditions late Thursday night set the stage for severe thunderstorms as rich gulf moisture pooled across southern Kansas. A complex of thunderstorms developed over northwest Kansas Thursday night and intensified once it reached the juicy gulf moisture residing over southern Kansas. The stronger winds aloft, combined with very unstable air, created a rare bow echo type thunderstorm complex that caused a derecho. A derecho (from the Spanish word meaning "straight") is a widespread, long-lived and violent convectively induced straight-line windstorm that is associated with a fast-moving band of severe thunderstorms in the form of a squall line usually taking the form of a bow echo. The derecho caused a swath of destructive straight-line winds which began near Harvey county and tracked southeast across the state and eventually across Missouri, Kentucky, Tennessee and even through to the east coast.  In addition to the wind damage the thunderstorms also produced large hail and flooding across the region and portions of the country overnight.

Swath of power outages caused by Derecho

  Radar and Satellite Imagery of the long-lived Derecho event.

Regional Radar Image of Derecho racing southeast across Kansas

Large uprooted tree in El Dorado...picture from Butler County Emergency Management

Refinery 80,000 barrel tank dented from derecho winds near El Dorado...picture from Butler County Emergency Management

Garage with severe damage in Cherryvale

Shed was blown off its foundation in Cherryvale

Large tree uprooted smashes carport in Cherryvale

Car smashed by large uprooted tree in Cherryvale

 Tree damage due to Derecho, Photographer was Haley Taliaferro