Lightning Strike in Maryland, July 22, 1999

A very muggy and unstable air mass which was in place during the early morning hours led to the development of thunderstorms producing very heavy rain, gusty winds, and frequent lightening across Central Maryland between 3:00 AM and 5:00 AM EDT. 26,000 customers in Baltimore County the the city of Baltimore lost power after the storms moved through. 1300 customers in Anne Arundel County also lost power as a result of the storm. The Anne Arundel County administration building was without power for over 8 hours forcing officials to close some offices. Another round of thunderstorms developed after 8:00 PM EDT producing another batch of brief heavy rain and frequent lightning. One lightning strike started a 4 car garage on fire around 9:15 PM EDT in Severna Park, resulting in $!5,000 damage. Rainfall totals for the day included 3.95 inches in Brooklyn Park in Anne Arundel County, 3.57 inches at Inner Harbor Baltimore, 2.03 inches at Fullerton, 1.44 inches at Randallstown in Baltimore County, and 1.10 inches at Baltimore/Washington International Airport. Because a significant downpour of rain had not occurred in the area in several months, unusual effects were reported. The heavy rain washed 3 months of sewer and creek-bed trash into Baltimore's Inner Harbor area. Tires, appliances, plastic bottles, and other debris beached paddle boats and resulted in a terrible eyesore for tourists. It took 6 dump trucks to remove the 40 tons of debris which had collected in the harbor.