How Common Are Derecho Storms In Minnesota? Here's A History

This summer's trend of severe weather in Minnesota is continuing as weather experts are now anticipating an extremely dangerous type of weather event to develop in Minnesota today.

Hot and humid conditions have been fueling strong thunderstorms that have caused tornadoes, wind damage, flooding, and lightning strikes throughout this summer season. Today's storm risks are particularly dangerous for a large portion of the state.

Here's a look at what derechos are, how common they are in Minnesota, and the derechos recorded in Minnesota over the last several decades.

What the heck is a derecho?

First, you might wonder, "How do you say that?" It is pronounced "deh-REY-cho", which is the Spanish word for "straight", but when it comes to weather, it is a rare but very serious weather situation.

In short, a derecho is described by the National Weather Service as "a widespread, long-lived wind storm". What makes it different from a normal severe thunderstorm is that these rapidly-moving storms usually sweep across a large area, bringing with them destructive straight-line winds that can reach up to hurricane force speeds.

In the case of the storms expected today in parts of Central and Southern Minnesota, straight-line winds up to 100 mph could occur, causing a widespread swath of damage if they do develop the way some forecasters expect they could.

How common are derechos in Minnesota?

Thankfully, they're not extremely common (as in several per year), but they do indeed happen with some regularity.

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The National Weather Service says most of Minnesota tends to see a derecho once every two years or so, with the extreme northern portions of the state being about once every four years, and a pocket in Central Minnesota being closer to once a year.

There have been stretches of years where there was one every year that hit part of the state, while there are other stretches of years where they don't happen. Here's a look at the history of derechos in Minnesota since 1995.