00:00 What gets everyone's attention is the high winds
00:02 that are produced from tornadoes, from hurricanes.
00:05 But what doesn't get the attention
00:06 and what's actually way more common
00:07 than those two different types of weather
00:09 is damaging winds from thunderstorms.
00:12 - In the United States, high winds from thunderstorms
00:14 are reported 10 times more often than tornadoes
00:17 and can happen in any state at any time of the year.
00:21 Gusts over 58 miles per hour
00:23 are the threshold for severe thunderstorms
00:25 and they can impact a larger area than a tornado
00:28 and be just as destructive.
00:29 - A tornado can really impact such a small footprint,
00:32 but when you see damaging wind gusts within thunderstorms,
00:35 it could be several miles wide.
00:37 It could even be up to 10 miles wide,
00:39 depending on how big the swath is.
00:41 - Larger storm complexes
00:42 called mesoscale convective systems, or MCSs,
00:45 can leave swaths hundreds of miles long
00:47 and reach speeds comparable to hurricanes,
00:50 particularly during the summer months
00:51 where extreme cases of damaging winds
00:53 called derechoes can occur.
00:55 - These storms to produce almost hurricane-force wind gusts
00:58 across much of the Midwest,
00:59 producing nearly up to 100 miles per hour.
01:02 - Damaging winds can cause serious damage,
01:04 bringing down trees on homes and vehicles,
01:06 ripping apart structures,
01:08 and damaging utility lines, knocking out power.
01:11 High winds can also significantly lower visibility,
01:13 creating dangerous situations for motorists.
01:16 - If you're a semi, this could be a blowover risk.
01:18 - Be sure to heed all warnings
01:20 and have the AccuWeather app on hand
01:22 to alert you when damaging winds threaten your area.
01:25 For AccuWeather, I'm meteorologist Tony Laubach.
01:28 [BLANK_AUDIO]
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