Severe thunderstorms blow through southeastern United States day after derecho hit
You've probably never heard of it, but a derecho is one of the world's most dangerous wind storms.
Severe thunderstorms swept across areas from Tennessee to Alabama, Georgia, the Carolinas and northern Florida on Saturday, causing more than 100,000 customers to lose power across the Southeastern states.
According to poweroutages.us, about 138,323 customers had experienced a power outage by 7:30 p.m. ET.
Scud clouds formed near Riverside, Alabama, Saturday afternoon. Despite how they look, these clouds do not cause severe weather or form into tornadoes. (Twitter/@tweetlesslacey)
Strong winds tore through the states, downing power lines and trees. The National Weather Service's Storm Prediction Center has listed 229 wind reports as of Sunday morning, at least 39 of which occurred in Alabama and 56 in South Carolina. Wind speeds reached up to 61 mph in Folly Beach, South Carolina.
Despite the widespread wind damage, today's storms were not part of a derecho like on Friday.
The Charlotte/Douglas International Airport canceled 99 flights and delayed 322 flights, according to FlightAware.
As the storms approached, Nashville Pride had to issue a mandatory evacuation due to severe weather. After about 20 minutes, the celebration continued its festivities after the sky had cleared.
Hail fell over Georgia, Alabama and South Carolina, reaching up to the size of golf balls in Whitmire, South Carolina, according to the SPC.
As of Sunday morning, there have been no casualties, unlike the result of Thursday and Friday's severe weather in the Southeast.
A 61-year-old man was killed when thunderstorm winds downed a tree near Columbia, South Carolina, on Thursday afternoon. The next evening, another falling tree struck and killed a man near Maynard, Kentucky.
"There will be more thunderstorms across the Southeast states on Sunday; however, these storms look to be more typical summertime storms with any severe storms being localized," AccuWeather Meteorologist Eric Leister said.
Saturday was the third consecutive day that thunderstorms threatened the southeastern United States after damaging winds rattled the southeastern states on Thursday and a derecho swept through the region Friday.
In the wake of Saturday's dangers, thunderstorms returned to areas from Tennessee and western North Carolina to northeastern Florida on Sunday.
Worse than spoiling outdoor plans, the thunderstorms once again renewed dangers of lightning and localized damaging winds.
Keep checking back for updates on AccuWeather.com and stay tuned to the AccuWeather Network on DirecTV, Frontier and Verizon Fios.
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