Derecho, scherecho ... Too much wind!

     

That's the big bird feeder whipping in the wind on Dec. 15.
I eventually took it down and put it back up the next day.

    Last Wednesday I was at a grocery store in Davenport to buy food and a couple of gifts.

    I was in a hurry as the oncoming Dec. 15 windstorm had been predicted and was the main topic of news. This forecast meant I needed to return home to take down all sorts of items that could fly off, such as Christmas decorations, bird feeders and the like.

    As I exited the store a gust of wind came, and several items flew off the cart. Two Good Samaritans --  including an elderly woman and a young man -- managed to capture the items that included an extra shopping bag and three of those big, padded, beige mail envelopes.

    I apologized to the kind folks and made my way to the SUV and home. It took some time to take down and store all the items that would seem to be at risk in a big wind.

    We got hit by the extreme wind later that night. We watched the radar on television and saw the storm pass with very little rain. I also kept an eye on the National Weather Service online.

    Turns out, there were about 45 tornadoes in those Dec. 15 storms. According to the Associated Press, the worst damage occurred in Nebraska, Iowa and Minnesota.

    If it seems this type of weather is rare in December, that's right. It is the lack of winter weather that helps spawn such storms.

    Think: We get a spring-like sunny day, and we can depend on gusty wind during these "cold" winter months. Wacky!

    Iowans are getting to be experts at derechos. The one on Dec. 15 was a "serial" derecho, while the one that occurred in August 2020 was a "progressive" derecho. That 2020 wind storm caused an estimated 100,000 trees to either snap off or be ripped from the ground in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Those residents are now starting to replant what was lost.

    The Dec. 15 storms only blew down branches at our house. In Illinois, and Kentucky, people lost their lives because of the extreme weather.

     I do like to be outdoors, and especially to exercise outdoors. It is very unusual to be able to do this so late in the year.

    I wonder what weather January 2022 will bring?