Tornado, Howard
- When
- August 27, 1:50 PM EST
- Where
- Howard County, Columbia to 3 mi N of Columbia
- Rating
- F0
- Path length
- 0.5 mi
- Path width
- 50 yd
- Property damage
- $15,000
- Coordinates
- 39.280, -76.850
Tornado in Maryland, August 27, 1996
A small, short-lived tornado caused minor damage to subdivisions along Frederick Road (state route 144) north of Columbia. Four trees were knocked down, including two onto a home, along Pine Bluffs Drive.
Where it happened
Every event with a place to put it. Tap one for its entry below.
- Tornadoes
- Tropical storms and surge
- Floods
- Wind
- Hail
- Winter weather
- Heat and drought
- Cold
- Fire, smoke and dust
- Marine and coastal
- Other
The toll
- Deaths
- 0
- Injuries
- 0
- Property damage
- $15,000
- Crop damage
- None recorded
- Events
- 1
Deaths and injuries are direct and indirect together, as the offices filed them. Damage is property and crops in the dollars of the year, not adjusted for inflation, and only where an office estimated it.
What happened
The episode as NWS LWX wrote it up.
A small, short-lived tornado caused minor damage to subdivisions along Frederick Road (state route 144) north of Columbia. Four trees were knocked down, including two onto a home, along Pine Bluffs Drive. A large limb fell at the intersection of Font Hill and Carrington Drive(s).
The radar
The Sterling radar (KLWX), 65 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 18:50 UTC.
Event by event
1 tornado. Local standard time, as filed.
What these are
- Tornado
- A violently rotating column of air in contact with the ground and extending from a thunderstorm, filed with its path, width and Fujita or Enhanced Fujita rating from the damage survey.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
The same day elsewhere
- Hail in Kentucky, August 27, 1996
- Flood in Massachusetts, August 27, 1996
- Flash Flood in South Carolina, August 27, 1996
- Flash Flood in New York, August 27, 1996
- Damaging Wind in Massachusetts, August 27, 1996
- Flash Flood in South Carolina, August 27, 1996
- Flash Flood in Arizona, August 27, 1996
- Lightning Strike in Massachusetts, August 27, 1996
- Flash Flood in Kentucky, August 27, 1996
- Damaging Wind in Maryland, August 27, 1996
- Flash Flood in New York, August 27, 1996
- Waterspout in Florida, August 27, 1996
More
Every storm in Maryland in 1996Every state in 1996This day in weather historyThe tornado archive for Maryland, 1996Warnings in Maryland, August 1996
Sources
NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database, compiled from the National Weather Service’s monthly Storm Data. Complete through 2026-06; NCEI adds each month about 75 days after it ends and revises past years a few times a year. Rebuilt 2026-09-24. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 5567912.