Damaging Winds and Lightning Strike in Maryland, February 12, 1999

A strong cold front swept across the region during mid-afternoon on the 12th, accompanied by thunderstorms with damaging wind and a temperature drop of nearly 30 degrees. Washington Reagan National Airport in Arlington County recorded a wind gust of 41 MPH as thunderstorms moved through around 4:15 pm. The strong wind accompanying the storms was blamed for damaged to an unoccupied elementary school in Montgomery County around 5:00 pm. The school on Horde Street in Wheaton lost its roof when the storms rolled through. A gust of around 55 MPH was reported by a spotter near Columbia in Howard County around 5:15 pm. The wind uprooted one tree and cut another tree in half in a business district of Columbia off of Route 108. The downed trees damaged two cars. Trees and branches were also reported down on Red Branch Parkway about 3 miles north of Columbia. Several trees were knocked down by the thunderstorms as they moved through Charles County. A wind anemometer on the Potomac River bridge in Charles County recorded a wind gust of 55 MPH at 5:45 pm. The winds chopped the waters on the Potomac River up to such an extent that a boat and its occupant had to be rescued at the height of the storm near Leesylvania Park. Local officials reported a tree down on Poorhouse Road in the area of Stuckey Lane near Pisgah, another across Route 6 West at Mill Swamp Road near Welcome, and two trees across the intersection of Shining Willow Way and Washington Avenue in La Plata. Lightning from the storm also struck a tree and power pole on Route 228 near Briarwood, starting a fire and resulting in arched and downed wires in the vicinity. In addition, a wind anemometer at Tall Timbers in St. Mary's County measured a wind gust of 57 MPH at 6:14 pm as the storms passed through.