A Historical Overview on the Science of Derechos Part I: Identification, Climatology, and Societal Impacts

Abstract

Research efforts from the last several decades to the present have aimed to better understand when and where derechos occur across the United States and other parts of the world, and what impacts derechos have on society. While the scientific community agrees that derechos are widespread wind storms associated with extratropical mesoscale convective systems, varying quantitative thresholds of what constitutes a derecho exist among peer-reviewed journal articles, introducing ambiguity throughout the literature of what is classified as a derecho, and where derechos most frequently occur. The scientific community would benefit from a summary on the more crucial aspects of derechos and where ambiguities or inconsistencies exist in the literature. Part I of this derecho historical overview discusses the history of derecho identification, and how differences in derecho identification strategies affect our understanding of their spatial climatology across the United States and Europe. Impacts to human life and commerce are also summarized.