Damaging Wind in Maryland, March 29, 1997

A line of strong to severe thunderstorms, associated with a vigorous upper-level disturbance acting on relatively unstable air, produced several instances of large hail, wind gusts to 58 mph, and two gustnadoes. Soft hail fell across most of Maryland east of the Blue Ridge mountains, generally ranging in size from 1/4 to 1/2 inch. One cell produced nickel sized hail near Hagerstown (Washington Co). A television meteorologist staffer drove through soft hail estimated to be between ping-pong and golf ball size just north of Frederick. Later, a well-developed cell in southern Maryland dropped golf ball-sized hail at two locations. The hail fell for several minutes near Dentsville (Charles Co), covering the ground to a depth of 3 inches. Penny-sized hail fell in Dublin (Harford Co), coating the ground.A non-severe wind gust snapped five power poles in Lanham (Prince Georges Co), causing brief power outages to several hundred Potomac Electric Power customers. No trees or other structures were reported damaged.A gustnado lifted a woman and her pet pony 5 feet in the air, and tossed the woman 35 feet away from her original location, at a farm in Forest Hill (Harford Co). The woman had a few bruises but was uninjured. The brief twister uprooted at least 6 large cedar trees, a 320-foot section of range fence, and a rabbit hutch. Between one and two dozen mixed soft and hard wood trees were snapped on the resident's and her neighbor's property. Structural damage was estimated at $1300.Twin gustnadoes, occurring no more than 3 miles from each other, touched down in Dundalk (SE Baltimore Co). Several witnesses observed funnel clouds, and one provided videotaped evidence of a lowered rotating cloud base combined with twin debris circulations, at the turbulent leading edge of the storm. Damage occurred within the debris clouds at two fast food establishments. At one of the restaurants, a traffic signal and some utility poles were blown down. At the other restaurant, a large plate glass window was blown out, some utility poles and large limbs were snapped, and a dumpster was tossed. One person sustained a few cuts. Over 7500 customers were without power for a brief time during the storm.Lightning struck and injured a 51-year old man in Hereford (Baltimore Co), who later recovered at the Greater Baltimore Medical Center.