derecho

American  

[duh-rey-choh] / dəˈreɪ tʃoʊ /

noun

derechos plural

1. a widespread and severe windstorm that moves rapidly along a fairly straight path and is associated with bands of rapidly moving thunderstorms.

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Other Word Forms

Inflected Forms

noun

• derechos
  plural

Etymology

Origin of derecho

1885–90; < Spanish: straight < Old Spanish < Latin dīrēctus, dērēctus direct ( def. )

Explanation

A derecho is a powerful, widespread, fast-moving, and destructive system of storms with extremely high-speed, straight-line winds. A derecho produces a swath of wind damage more than 240 miles long, and has wind gusts of at least 58 miles per hour. The name of this severe weather event is derived from the Spanish word derecho, which means "straight." Unlike tornadoes and hurricanes, which have rotating winds, derechos have winds that blow in a straight line. These storm systems occur mainly in North America, especially in the central and eastern regions of the United States, but they have also been documented in Europe, Asia, and South America. Most derechos occur in the warmer months, from late spring through summer.

Example Sentences

It was the largest outage statewide since 2012 when about 670,000 customers lost power from a derecho, a widespread, straight-line wind storm associated with fast-moving severe thunderstorms.

From Seattle Times • Apr. 3, 2024

Hizo planes para que Torres se sometiera a las pruebas y procedimientos que necesitaría para seguir teniendo derecho a los pagos por incapacidad.

From Los Angeles Times • Nov. 15, 2023

Prein approached this question by analyzing the thermodynamics of straight line winds and how actual wind events such as the 2020 derecho would have been affected by different atmospheric conditions based on first-order physical principles.

From Science Daily • Nov. 2, 2023

The resulting plants are about one-third shorter than normal, and less likely to fall over or snap in a derecho.

From Science Magazine • Oct. 25, 2023

It consists of sigue, para, derecho, mano, and silla.

From A Woman's Impression of the Philippines by Fee, Mary Helen