Some of the wildest weather of this year ripped across the US Midwest and Great Plains on Thursday, unleashing tree-toppling, hurricane-force wind gusts and crashing hail. The highest wind report came from South Dakota, where a gust reached 107 miles (172 kilometers) per hour, said Andrew Orrison, a forecaster with the US Weather Prediction Center. At least 55 reports of gusts of 75 mph or more were recorded, the second most since at least 2004. Meteorologists also confirmed the system touched off a derecho — a wave of rapidly moving thunderstorms and winds that can cause massive damage. “This was one of the higher-impact severe weather events of the year so far,” Orrison said. “It covered a lot of real estate.” 63 mph wind gust here at the office shortly after 4 pm, but many reports of 80+ mph across the region with significant structural damage and trees down!! […]