[EAS] 9-1-1 Outages From Derecho/Windstorm

[Tim Stoffel]

That's not to say it won't happen in a long sqaull. They're simply not as common as bow echo's which are directly related to high efficiency downward wind production blowing  forward in a cell relative to others in the line.

MCS's tend to form in otherwise non-linear locations where convective CAPE is high, CINH (convective inhibition) reduced, and there is a gradient to slide along for decaying cells to get spun swept into the jet stream and come around again for another shot. MCS's also pulse cells which form upstream along the periphery of the circulation ahead of the main body. 
Thereby propagating forward faster.

Mike,
    This matches my understanding of MCS's as well. So perhaps the events of that storm (1996, if I recall) were really bow echos that were not as well understood at the time. Storms that generate MCS's are uncommon in western New York. I do remember two things about that storm: 1.) The day before the storm (which happened at night) was one of the hottest, most humid days I can remember from my years living there (I was doing a TV remote in that heat and humidity, and the show was a poorly planned 'nightmare'!), and 2.) Although I did not get any damaging winds where I lived, this storm was one of the most intense I can ever remember, with nearly continuous lightning.