Powerful Winds Are Battering US Midwest at Increasing Rates
- Non-tornadic gusts occur more often than 40 years ago: NCAR
- Computer-modeling study tracked rise driven by warming trends
A collapsed building following a derecho storm in August 2020 near Franklin Grove, Illinois.
Photographer: Daniel Acker/Getty ImagesThis article is for subscribers only.
Damaging winds blasting out of thunderstorms are occurring five times more frequently across the central US than they were 40 years ago because of the warming climate, threatening local economies.
That’s according to new findings from the National Center for Atmospheric Research, or NCAR. A recent study using computer modeling showed non-tornadic gusts such as straight-line winds and derechos — rapidly moving lines of thunderstorms that can travel long distances — have become more common.