South Jersey knows the name of a new storm: derecho. For those of you who are unfamiliar with it, "a 'derecho' is a long-lived, rapidly moving line of intense thunderstorms that produces widespread damaging winds in a nearly continuous swath (NOAA). These winds are intense straight-line winds that reach over 58mph, often approaching 100mph. This intense line of thunderstorms must travel a minimum of 240 miles in order to be considered a derecho.
On Saturday June 30th, 2012, at approximately 1:00am, a Severe Thunderstorm Warning was issued for all of southern New Jersey. Upon receiving the message, I went to check the radar and was astonished by what I saw. The radar signature showed a large bow echo-I immediately knew the imminent threat of this storm. The storm cell quickly approached the region and knocked out power shortly after the warnings were issued. All you could hear was the howling wind outside. The storm worsened quickly, with wind gusts rapidly accelerating up to over 80mph. I personally wanted to step outside for a moment to see the wrath of the storm, but I was honestly terrified of the storm. As someone who enjoys experiencing the wrath of nature, even this was too much. The derecho swept through South Jersey, delivering it's unforgiving winds, causing widespread damage. Within an hour, the worst of the storm was over, and everything was dark.
When morning broke, everyone was unaware as to the damage that had occurred from the storm. As I drove down the street and turned out of my development, Rutgers bound for a club meeting, I was struck with this scene just a few hundred feet away:
As I continued on, the damage became more apparent, and I was rendered speechless. Downed trees and wires were everywhere, no street intersections had power, and all Wawa's and gas stations around South Jersey were closed. South Jersey was crippled.
Atlantic, Cape, Cumberland, and Salem counties are struggling to recover from this monster storm. Utility crews from around the nation came over and helped our recovery efforts and we were grateful for their service. Its being reported that it could take over a week to restore power to all customers; my family struck lucky and received it back in 4 days. For the most part, people remained calm through the chaos, helping one another and being patient.
As for the derecho itself, the storm began in the Mid-West, around Illinois and traveled it's way into the Mid-Atlantic, wreaking havoc throughout the Central Atlantic. Wind gusts were measured up to 87mph in Atlantic City International Airport. The system lasted approximately 18 hours and traveled 800miles from the Mid-Atlantic, through the Central Atlantic, into the Atlantic Ocean. The damage was widespread and massive. In total, 22 people lost their lives in the storm.
