Severe Weather Last Night

Apparently, Stevensville and Kent Island got hit hard last night with a possible tornado, homes destroyed, 7000 without power.
 

officeguy

Well-Known Member
I watched this on radar while it happened. Looked more like a straight-line wind event related to a thunderstorm than a tornado.
 

Goldenhawk

Well-Known Member
I watched this on radar while it happened. Looked more like a straight-line wind event related to a thunderstorm than a tornado.
Simply watching Doppler radar (green/yellow/red) isn't enough. You don't see rotation unless you're watching the radial velocity mode (usually shown in blue/red or red/green depending on direction of motion). It showed pretty clearly on that radar - a huge hook.

http://www.intellicast.com/National/Nexrad/RadialVelocity.aspx?location=USVA0232

See the latter half of this video of the radar returns. First half is normal, 2nd half is radial.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ClCaYO1u8CA
 

littlelady

God bless the USA
An old friend of mine lives on the island too. Her home was untouched but has no power. However, her weekly "go to" produce and flower seller, Farmer John's, was completely wiped off the map.

That is really sad. Tornadoes in MD are rare. I can't imagine this happening at 1:30 in the morning. I am so glad no one died. We have had humongous storms in Olney in the past 3 days. I hope Farmer John can recuperate.
 

officeguy

Well-Known Member
Simply watching Doppler radar (green/yellow/red) isn't enough. You don't see rotation unless you're watching the radial velocity mode (usually shown in blue/red or red/green depending on direction of motion). It showed pretty clearly on that radar - a huge hook.

It was a different storm I looked at, the one around 7pm. That one had a nice bow echo and an outflow boundary.
 

officeguy

Well-Known Member
That is really sad. Tornadoes in MD are rare.

They are not all that rare, about 10 NWS recorded events pear year. Considering how small of a state we are compared to places out west, we are probably up there on a per square mile basis.

An F4 leveled parts of Frostburg and Eckhard Mines 1998. A F4 leveled parts of La Plata in 1926 and a second time in 2002. Heck there was an EF1 in La Plata on Feb 25th of this year.
 

littlelady

God bless the USA
They are not all that rare, about 10 NWS recorded events pear year. Considering how small of a state we are compared to places out west, we are probably up there on a per square mile basis.

An F4 leveled parts of Frostburg and Eckhard Mines 1998. A F4 leveled parts of La Plata in 1926 and a second time in 2002. Heck there was an EF1 in La Plata on Feb 25th of this year.

Thanks for the stats. But, I stll think in the scheme of tornado occurrences is rare in MD. I do have to say that the tornado that hit LaPlata was awful. We experienced all that in St. Leonard. I never realized how close we were. We had some trees down. There were a few houses that suffered major damage on Sixes Road. I grew up in the South and endured some major hurricanes; Betsy and Camille. It is really weird that a storm can come through, and devastate a house, but not the one next to it.
 

Gilligan

#*! boat!
PREMO Member
They are not all that rare, about 10 NWS recorded events pear year. Considering how small of a state we are compared to places out west, we are probably up there on a per square mile basis.

An F4 leveled parts of Frostburg and Eckhard Mines 1998. A F4 leveled parts of La Plata in 1926 and a second time in 2002. Heck there was an EF1 in La Plata on Feb 25th of this year.

We had one plow across a stretch of mostly woods and farm fields, just north of Tall Timbers. Been a while..more than 10 years ago. Looked like God went through with a lawn mower, the edges of the destruction were so cleanly defined. Lots of free firewood for a couple years...
 
Top