A derecho threatens the midwest like Godzilla looming above Tokyo

Derechos and the wrath of God both look like this (Wikimedia)

Weather forecasters say a potentially dangerous derecho is cooking in the skies above the Midwest and several major metropolitan areas are "in the threat zone" on both Wednesday and Thursday.  A little more from the forecast o' doom:

The National Weather Service’s Storm Prediction Center said 12 million people were at high risk of severe weather, including Chicago, Fort Wayne, Ind., and the Illinois cities of Aurora, Rockford and Joliet. An additional 60 million were under moderate or slight risk, from Milwaukee to Washington.

Derechos are severe storm complexes known to meteorologists for many years, but it's only been in the last year or so that the public has become aware of them. With good reason--a huge derecho swept from Indiana to Virginia on June 29/30, 2012, killing 22 without ever even dropping a tornado. Derechos don't need to. According to Wikipedia (honestly, often a good basic source for some information), derechos are "widespread, long-lived, straight-line windstorm(s) that are associated with a fast-moving band of severe thunderstorms." On radar, derechos form a distinctive bow and tend to plow like a slow-moving arrow of destruction across the land, looking biblical along the way (see above).

It's probably just me but I find derechos rather eerie. Tornadoes are apocalyptic, truly terrifying, but there's something about a great black cloud front rushing in with sustained winds, hail and driving rain that seems almost malevolent.

If there is a silver lining, Weather.com forecasters don't seem 100% certain the worst form of the storm will manifest, writing, "It's possible, though by no means certain, that thunderstorms Wednesday night could congeal into a long-lived squall line called a 'derecho' with a more widespread damaging wind threat in this region."

Anyone who's followed me on Twitter shouldn't be surprised I'm a weather weirdo.

Perhaps inevitably, I find it's getting worse as I age.

Anyway, maybe wear body armor with your gumboots if you have to get out in this one.

[NBC]