"Massive Derecho Sweeps Northern Plains, Bringing Destructive Winds and Tornado Threat"

Listeners, a fast-moving, long-lived windstorm ripped across the Northern Plains late Monday into early Tuesday, meeting the classic hallmarks of a derecho: a continuous swath of destructive straight-line winds over hundreds of miles with embedded severe gusts over 75 mph. According to NOAA’s Storm Prediction Center guidance referenced by USA Today and AOL, forecasters anticipated an organized line forming in western South Dakota and racing east across eastern South Dakota into southwest Minnesota and northwest Iowa, with hurricane-force wind gusts possible, scattered tornadoes, and large hail. USA Today reports the highest risk focused from Aberdeen and Watertown to Brookings and Marshall, with the line likely pushing toward the Upper Mississippi Valley overnight.

Forecasters described the setup as storms riding the northern edge of a sprawling heat dome, with a surging cold front helping storms congeal into a bowing line capable of widespread wind damage. AOL’s forecast brief noted that multiple 75+ mph gusts are typically required within one storm complex for derecho classification, and warned of numerous power outages, downed trees, and structural damage along the corridor. FOX Weather, cited by USA Today, emphasized that straight-line winds in these events can mimic tornado damage across a much wider path, urging rapid sheltering once severe thunderstorm warnings are issued.

Social media and independent forecasters tracked the development Monday. The Weather On The Go channel highlighted the primary hazard as damaging winds from eastern North Dakota into Minnesota, with hail and a very low tornado threat early in the day, before the nocturnal convective surge increased wind risks into the night. Texas Storm Chasers separately documented Monday evening clusters sweeping southeast in the Southern Plains; while significant in their own right, those storms were distinct from the Northern Plains windstorm.

By early Tuesday, the evolving complex was expected to reach into Wisconsin and northern Illinois, with lingering severe wind potential. USA Today underscored the moderate-to-significant risk category over eastern South Dakota and adjacent Minnesota, the corridor most favored for concentrated hurricane-force gusts. If post-event surveys verify a continuous swath of damaging winds at least 400 miles long and 60 miles wide with multiple 75+ mph reports tied to the same convective system, this event would be logged as a derecho under widely used criteria described by severe-weather researchers and relayed by AOL’s explainer.

For listeners in the affected path, meteorologists stressed layered alerting—smartphone alerts and NOAA Weather Radio—to catch overnight warnings, and immediate movement to sturdy shelter when warnings are issued. Mobile and manufactured homes are especially vulnerable in derechos due to the potential for extreme straight-line winds, a risk reiterated in the storm briefings.

Sources: USA Today’s Monday outlook on a derecho blasting the northern Plains, including Aberdeen, Watertown, Brookings, and Marshall; AOL’s derecho primer and forecast for widespread 75+ mph gusts and potential tornadoes across South Dakota into Minnesota and Iowa; FOX Weather commentary via USA Today on tornado-like damage from straight-line winds; Weather On The Go’s August 11 video noting damaging wind as the primary threat in the Dakotas-to-Minnesota corridor; Texas Storm Chasers on separate Southern Plains convection.

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