Iowa's big wind and Gustavus Detlef Hinrichs

As noted yesterday when I shared these photos of damage in my neighborhood in Chariton on Facebook, Iowa's big wind of August 10 (which we've now learned to call "derecho") grazed Lucas County but did little significant damage. To the north across the state thousands remain without power, countless trees are down or badly damaged, crops destroyed and buildings have been damaged.

Here, although lights flickered before the storm arrived, power continued to flow and city crews were able to clear away most of the tree damage during the hours that followed, so we were very fortunate to be under the southerly tail end of that major weather event. The loss here on south hill involved the top of a giant pin oak that had been standing sentinel for heaven only knows how many years.

By checking that source of all knowledge, Wikipedia, I did learn that the term "derecho" was first used in the United States by Gustavus Detlef Hinrichs in an 1888 edition of the American Meteorological Journal to describe a weather event that passed through Iowa on July 31, 1877. Here is the brief Wikipedia biography of Mr. Hinrichs.

"Hinrichs was born in 1836 in Lunden, Holstein, part of the German Confederation which at that time belonged to Denmark. He attended the local polytecnic school and the University of Copenhagen. During his schooling he published several articles and books, including descriptions of the magnetic field of earth and its interaction with the aether.

"Hinrichs graduated in 1860, between the First and Second Schleswig Wars. He emigrated later that year to the United States, settling initially in Davenport, Iowa, where he taught school, then in nearby Iowa City. In 1863 he was made professor of Natural Philosophy, Chemistry and Modern Languages at the University of Iowa. Hinrichs founded the first state weather and crop service in the United States. He was the head of the Iowa Weather Service until 1886. He was the first to identify and name the straight-line storm phenomenon he called "derecho." He stayed at that University until fired in 1886 by the state Board of Regents due to disputes with the University president and faculty members. He became professor at the St. Louis University in 1889 and stayed there until his retirment in 1907."