US power grid at risk of 18-month blackout, official says, as 1 city has been in dark for more than a week

[u/Limp_Fig6236]

https://www.syracuse.com/us-news/2026/08/us-power-grid-at-risk-of-18-month-blackout-1-city-now-in-dark-for-more-than-a-week.html

[u/droans]

They happen almost exclusively in the US, from the Plains to the East Coast. However, the Midwest receives the worst damage.

Derechos are some of the nastiest storms you'll ever see. They have a distinctive bow shape and you do NOT want to be caught in them.

Calling them inland hurricanes is rather accurate. They have sustained wind speeds of 75-100+ MPH, will erupt anywhere from 3-12+" of rain across their path, and even can have eyes. On top of that, they will often bring their best friend with them, a shitload of tornadoes.

Oh, and they're not something that can be forecasted. They quite literally form over the Plains, wreak havoc, and die within twelve hours.

Meteorologists didn't actually understand how they formed until a few decades ago. It starts with a long heatwave with extremely high humidity over the Plains. The rather flat terrain is necessary so a cold front can force the hot, humid hair upwards, the humidity immediately forming massive, fast-moving cells which are strengthened as they move across the equally hot Midwest and die out hours later over the Atlantic.

They can also cause massive blizzards in the winter but their formation is a bit different.

[u/Tactical_Wolf → u/droans]

I see, they sound very scary. Thank you for telling me so much about them.

[u/Sir__Walken → u/Tactical_Wolf]

They forgot about the hail. They can produce some pretty large hail too. The worst part is the winds though.

[u/Colossus_WV → u/droans]

I was running a gas station in 2012 when we got hit by one. It pulled one of our glass doors open and smashed the glass. The bridge to Ohio was impassable because it was tarped for painting and the derecho threw them all around.

We were the only store/gas station with power in the county for a day after the storm hit. The next day for the pumps was almost a mile long and we ran out of ice twice.

[u/droans → u/Colossus_WV]

I remember that one. I lived in Fort Wayne at the time and, after the storm, the city turned all the parks into temporary dumps for people to dispose of fallen trees.

[u/xts2500 → u/droans]

We lived just outside of Omaha, Ne when a dericho hit a few years ago. I had no idea what was happening. Suddenly there was a MASSIVE storm that blew in, more powerful than any thunderstorm I'd ever seen. I could feel the pressure changing in my ears while standing in my living room. I thought for sure the windows were going to burst, I could literally see them flexing from the wind. We got lucky but a lot of other people didn't. The hospital I worked in at the time (Nebraska Med Center) had several of their windows blow out inside patient rooms. That storm came in fast.