MT. PLEASANT — On Saturday, June 6, just after 11 a.m. a thunderstorm with fierce straight-line winds pummeled Mt. Pleasant. Accompanied by rain and hail, the wind blew branches off trees and scattered lawn furniture and trash cans.

A stately old tree was uprooted at the home of Scott and Heather Koyle at 200 East and 300 South in Mt. Pleasant.

By early afternoon, it was all over, and all across town chain saws could be heard and pickup trucks could be seen loaded down with big tree branches as they disposed of the debris left behind by the storm. The damage was done swiftly and thoroughly.

Watchers.news reported: Widespread, long-lived wind storm known to meteorologists as ‘derecho’ affected the central Rockies and northern Plains on Saturday, June 6, 2020.”

Derechos are very rare for parts of Utah, Wyoming and Colorado, NWS Storm Prediction Center said.

The 2020 central Rockies/northern Plains derecho began at around 15:00 UTC (09:00 MDT) on June 6. The last severe wind report was received at 02:52 UTC on June 7 (20:52 MDT).

Severe wind reports span at least 465 km (750 miles) from far southeastern Utah to southwest North Dakota.

The storm produced severe wind reports for nearly 12 hours and tracked northeast at an average pace of 37 km/h (60 mph).

The highest measured gust was 68 km/h (110 mph) at Winter Park Ski Area in Grand County, Colorado.

Fox News reported: A powerful line of severe thunderstorms known as a derecho roared Saturday across the West, and forecasters described it as a rare event that left damage from Utah all the way to North Dakota. Derechos typically form east of the Rocky Mountains, which is what made Saturday’s event so rare.

The National Weather Service Storm Prediction Center said the severe derecho produced widespread severe wind gusts over hurricane force stretching from eastern Utah. In order for a cluster of thunderstorms to be defined as a derecho, a wind damage swath must extend for more than 240 miles and include wind gusts of at least 58 mph or greater along most of its length reports Fox News.

Utah wasn’t the only state to experience the phenomenon. In Denver, Colorado, 79,000 customers were without power at the height of the storm and widespread damage was reported. The derecho that roared across the Great Basin on Saturday came less than a week after another derecho left four people dead and thousands without power in the Northeast.