Many of you remember the derecho of May 1998 but there was another major derecho that struck Michigan in July of 1991. Unlike this year May and June of 1991 was very hot and that continued into July as well. The first week of July 1991 seen temperatures in the mid to upper 80’s then reaching 93 on July 6th and then 91 on July 7th and that was the day of the storm.
During the early daylight hours of Sunday, July 7, 1991, a bow echo developed over southeast South Dakota and began racing east, producing very damaging winds. This was the start of a long-lived derecho that lasted 17 hours and affected areas from the Great Plains into western New York and Pennsylvania (Figure 1). Wind gusts in some places reached 80 to 100 mph. The strongest gust, 103 mph, was measured at Sioux Center, Iowa around mid-morning (Figure 1), and the roof of a school was blown off in nearby Orange City.
As the derecho storm system moved across northern Iowa, considerable damage occurred. Many thousands of acres of corn and soybean plants were flattened, resulting in crop losses of $60 million (1991 dollars). Many farm buildings were damaged or destroyed. A gust to 71 mph was measured at the Mason City Airport, and there was much damage in and near the city. In McIntosh Woods State Park, which is a few miles west of the Mason City Airport, a women was killed when a tree fell on her van and crushed it.
As the storm system entered Wisconsin early in the afternoon, the original bow echo that caused the damage west of the Mississippi River weakened and a new bow echo quickly formed to the south. This bow echo rapidly increased in size; by the time it reached Madison, it was producing severe and extensive damage. At Madison’s Dane County Regional Airport, a gust to 83 mph was recorded and 20 buildings and hangers were damaged. Several airplanes were damaged or destroyed. In the Madison area, 60,000 customers lost electrical power, and damage totaled $7 million.
In a corridor from Madison to Lake Michigan just north of Milwaukee, very strong winds and intense damage continued to occur. At the Sullivan-Milwaukee NWS Forecast Office and at the Waukesha Airport, gusts to 81 mph were recorded. About 30 farm buildings were destroyed and over 250 were damaged in this area. Many homes and businesses were damaged, hundreds of trees were blown down, and many thousands of customers lost electrical power. Four people were injured. Besides Madison, some towns that received severe damage include Ixonia, Watertown, Milford, Waukesha, and Cedarburg. In Waukeska, the historic 300 year-old Dunbar Oak Tree was toppled, and at the airport, two planes were destroyed and hangers were damaged. The Federal Emergency Management Agency declared the counties of Dane, Jefferson, Waukesha, Washington, and Ozaukee as part of a Federal Disaster Area. The July 7-8, 1991 derecho caused a total of about $20 million worth of damage in Wisconsin, most of which occured in the Federal Disaster Area.
The derecho storm system crossed Lake Michigan and entered southwest Lower Michigan between 6 and 7 p.m. EDT Sunday evening. During the next three hours it raced across the state at a speed of 60 mph, causing much damage to buildings and crops, blowing down numerous trees, and cutting off electric power to 853,000 customers. This was the largest number of customers in Michigan to lose electrical power from one storm system to date. More than a week passed before electrical power was totally restored.
Some of the strongest winds occurred in Kent County and northwestern Ionia County, where a gust to 84 mph was measured in Grand Rapids and a gust to 85 mph was recorded at Belding. Some of the worst damage in southwest Lower Michigan also occurred in these counties. Two homes were destroyed and over 250 others were damaged. About four dozen barns were damaged or destroyed, and many fruit growers lost more than half their crop. Note most of the damage was just north of Grand Rapids and here at my house (I just bought it that May) we did not have power for over a week and had to get dry ice to keep things cold. Also we went to my sister in laws house in Lowell where they did have power and seen several movies during that time.
As the storm system continued east across the state, a semi-trailer truck was blown over on Interstate 69 east of Battle Creek. Some of the most severe damage in southeast Lower Michigan occurred from Shiawassee County east into the Flint metropolitan area. In New Lothrop, 10 mobile homes were blown over, with one being rolled into a nearby lake. In Durand, numerous camper trailers were blown over and one person was injured. Many homes and cars were damaged by falling trees in Owosso. A roof was blown off an elementary school in Swartz Creek, and on the west side on Flint near Interstate 75, roofs were blown off two apartment buildings.
Wind gusts from 75 to 85 mph were common in the Ann Arbor, Detroit, and Pontiac areas. Many homes and cars were damaged in Rochester and Tecumseh, and trees and power lines were blown down throughout the region.
After crossing Lower Michigan, the derecho entered southwest Ontario during the late evening. Many trees and electrical lines were blown down, and a number of roofs were damaged or blown off. Some of the worst affected towns included Harrow in Essex County, Chatham and Ridgetown in Kent County, and Strathroy in Middlesex County. The bow echo system and derecho winds then crossed Lake Erie and affected parts of northwest Pennsylvania and adjacent states before ending about 2 AM EDT Monday, July 8.
In summary, the “Southern Great Lakes Derecho of 1991” traveled about 1000 miles, caused $125 million worth of damage, produced widespread electrical outages that affected nearly one million customers, killed one person, and injured about a dozen others.
It should be noted that during the thunderstorm drought that we are having we also have not had to deal with any Derecho’s either.
Slim
Great post Slim. Beautiful day today. Sounds like when we get thru the next couple of rainy days it is going to be sunny and hot. We should dry out a bit.
While we here in the central US are just starting to get some nice warm summer weather in much of Northern Europe it has been warm for much of June and looks to get very warm to hot this coming week. Locations from Madrid to Paris, Belgium, Frankfurt and Berlin can expect a multi-day heat wave, with daily temperatures near or above30C (90 F). The average high is between 24C (74F) and 26F (78F) Some of the hottest locations may reach 38C (100F) Even in England the highs may reach up to 27C (80F) the average high in London in… Read more »
Crazzy it’s the end of June we have not even put a fan in our window and the air-conditioning sits off loving these cool Summer nights keep them going ..INDY!
This has been the most incredible 6 month stretch ever and now no hot weather, no ac, no fans, no watering the lawn! Amazing!
It sounded like a Tornado we ran down in the basement we lost power for a week out at thee YARDofBRICKS We lost 8 trees that Sunday night the storm blew in fast it was really hot to with no electrical air conditioning.. Great post slim..INDY!
Finally, a nice weekend. Get out and enjoy it, friends. We’re off to the lake.
Good read Slim! For some reason I do not remember that storm. I’m guessing we may have been out of state on vacation, or it just wasn’t memorable in our immediate area.
That storm was hit and miss. On the north side of GR there was a lot of damage while on the south side there was very little if any damage or wind for that matter.
Slim
I remember that storm. It goes to show that with some 850,000 people losing power what major storms can do to our power grid not to mention the damage it causes. Thanks Slim
6 months and counting! Rock n roll will never die.