Yo Soy El Derecho...

That's spanish for, The Derecho.

Some of you may remember the massive Thunderstorm system that begin in the midwest and screamed across the country in a matter of hours causing widespread power outages and 22 deaths. Prior to June 29th, not many knew what a Derecho was, other than spanish for straight...the high winds knocked out power and that coupled with the sweltering heat necessitated the opening of cooling shelters.

Well it seems that June is the month for when these Derecho's like to make appearances...this radar image was captured on June 12th/13th:

The Washington Post has an in-depth comparison of the two storms with more maps and stats to help illustrate the similarities on the impacts of the two storm systems.

With the systems hitting just as summer begins, it will be important for emergency management to think about protocols and procedures for increasing the availability of cooling centers while adding Derecho to the list of events that need specific messaging and educational components to ensure the public is aware not only of what they are, but how best to protect themselves when June 2014 roles around.