Damaging Winds in Maryland, June 18, 1997

A wet microburst, associated with a heavy-precipitation supercell moving out of northern Virginia, produced a 13-mile swath of scattered tree and power line damage across extreme southern Montgomery Co. The microburst, which had a width of about 1/3 mile, snapped hundreds of mainly soft wood trees and large limbs. However, some of the trees fell onto homes and vehicles, causing substantial damage. In Potomac, a vehicle was crushed by a falling oak tree. The driver, waiting out the storm along the side of a road, was killed instantly. Numerous large limbs and dozens of small trees were snapped and/or uprooted in Potomac.Farther east, at least 50 trees and limbs were snapped, most of them evergreens, at the Bethesda Country Club. Scattered light damage continued through North Chevy Chase, then damage increased again in the Woodside section of Silver Spring. Unfortunately, at least four homes sustained substantial damage from fallen trees in Silver Spring. The heaviest damage occurred at the intersection of Highland and Second Avenue, where three oak trees and limbs combined to cause major damage to one home whose second story was smashed to the ground. The next-door neighbor's home had a snapped oak crash into its garage. Damage to the other two homes was not quite as severe. At the intersection of Spring Street and Second Ave., an uprooted locust tree smashed into the side wall, chimney, and roof. Another home, located at the intersection of Georgia Ave. and Noyes Drive, suffered minor roof damage from a fallen tree. An adjacent shed was crushed by a snapped large silver maple tree.The damage lightened up as the storm moved into the Takoma Park neighborhoods just east of Silver Spring. In all, the combination of wind and lightning cut power to 37,500 customers in the Potomac Electric Power Co service area.