Weather conditions today could bring a line of severe weather similar to the damaging high winds of last summer known as a derecho. Dr. Ryan Fogt, Assistant Professor of Geography and Director of the Scalia Laboratory for Atmospheric Analysis in the Ohio University Department of Geography, describes the conditions in an interview with WOUB News:
On June 29, 2012, for the first time in recent memory the public became aware of a phenomenon known as a derecho.
Meteorologists say conditions are possible for one to occur as a line of severe weather is expected to move through much of the Mid-Ohio Valley and Great Lakes regions Wednesday.
“Typically, their main threat is wind damage,” said Dr. Ryan Fogt, Assistant Professor of Meteorology at Ohio University. “They don’t typically produce tornadoes, but they may produce some hail.”
According to Fogt, Derechos are capable of producing wind speeds up to that of a Category 1 hurricane…..
Fogt said atmospheric instability, along with moisture from the south and low pressure means the conditions could be favorable for strong winds and an organized system like a derecho to form.
“It won’t be just a pop-up thunderstorm, it would be something that we would see propagating from Western Ohio towards Eastern and Southeastern Ohio,” Fogt added. “It would be something we would be able to see in advance, and we would have hopefully a pretty good warning or lead time on those storms.”
Fogt teaches in the Department of Geography, College of Arts & Sciences at Ohio University.
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