Flash Flood and Flood in Maryland, June 7, 2001

Name: Flash Flood and Flood in Maryland, June 7, 2001
Start: 2001-06-07T00:30
End: 2001-06-07T19:00
Location: Maryland

June 7, 2001 · NWS LWX · 7 events in 6 counties and zones

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 6 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. 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

Open the live radar over this ground

The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: $150,000
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 7

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.

An area of showers and thunderstorms with very heavy rainfall moved across western and central Maryland during the early morning hours of the 7th. The heaviest rain fell across western Allegany County where flash flooding was reported. The hardest hit area included Westernport, McCoole, Barton, and Rawlings. Streets and low lying areas became makeshift rivers as creeks overflowed their banks. Four homes received major damage and more than 40 basements were flooded. Flooded or damaged roads included Route 220 (McMullen Highway), Llewelyn Avenue, Tri-Towns Plaza Road, and George's Creek Road. A rock slide was reported on Route 135 in Westernport. The following streets in Westernport were damaged by flooding: Lincoln, Main, Central, McKinley, Wood, Poplar, Stoney Run, Potomac Hollow, Walnut, and Hickory. Several bridges leading to private property from McMullen Highway were washed out or damaged. Yard flooding, minor exterior damaged, or erosion was reported on properties along the following roads: Biddle Drive, McMullen Highway, Ketterman Lane, Abbey Lane, Red Rock Lane, McKinley Street, Gordon Street, Wood Street, Church Street, Greene Street, Creekside Drive, Mill Run Road, New George's Creek Road, Mt. Spring Road, and Donna Street. George's Creek near Westernport rose above the flood stage of 8.0 feet at 3:45 AM EDT, crested at 9.19 feet at 4:45 AM, and dropped below food stage by 600 AM. Rainfall totals included 4.9 inches at George's Creek near Westernport, 4.1 inches at McCoole Pumping Station, 3.2 inches at Biers Lane and Savage River Dam, 2.6 inches at the Oldtown Treatment Plant, 2.37 inches in Frostburg, and 2.3 inches at Wrights Crossing Pump Station. In Washington County, rainfall totals included 3.41 inches in Knoxville and 2.63 inches in Sharpsburg. In Montgomery County, rainfall totals included 2.64 inches in Olney, 2.56 inches in Washington Grove, 2.42 inches in Gaithersburg, 2.22 inches in Potomac, 2.15 inches in Rockville, and 2.12 inches in Damascus. A spotter in Chevy Chase recorded nearly one half inch of rain in 5 minutes. The deluge caused Seneca Creek at Dawsonville to overflow its banks between 715 AM and 700 PM EDT. Bankful stage is 7.5 feet and the river crested at 7.95 feet around 9 AM. In Howard County, 2.60 inches was reported in Laurel and 2.20 inches fell in Columbia. In Anne Arundel County, heavy rain flooded Brock Bridge Road near Laurel, Fontron Drive in Selby on the Bay, King George Street in Annapolis, and Defense Highway near Parole. Rainfall totals included 2.16 inches at Davidsonville, 2.10 inches in Annapolis, and 1.76 inches at Baltimore-Washington International Airport. In Prince George's County, minor flooding was reported in Seat Pleasant and on Martin Luther King Highway. Rainfall totals include 2.22 inches in South Bowie and 2.00 inches in Greenbelt.

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before the first event, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.

NWS Baltimore/Washington wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Jun 6, 8:40 PM EST, 3 hours 50 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jun 6, 8:40 PM EST, 3 hours 50 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BALTIMORE/WASHINGTON
940 PM EDT WED JUN 6 2001

SCT SHRA/S WERE MOVG ACRS NRN FA AT 01Z. AN AREA OF SHRA/S AND
TSRA/S WERE MOVG E TWD FA FM WV. EXPECT PCPN CVRG TO CONT INCRG OVR
FA DUR NXT COUPLE OF HRS. THE OHP PRODUCT FM KRLX SHOWED MAINLY
LIGHT PCPN W/FEW ISOLD 1 INCH AMTS...SO NO NEED FOR FFA AT THIS
TIME.

PCPN WAS MOVG E ALG STNRY BDRY WHICH EXTENDED FM SRN OH VLLY THRU
NRN ERN WV PANHANDLE INTO NRN PIEDMONT OF VA. TSRAS AND ENHANCED
RAFL WERE ASSOCD W/WVS OF LOW PRES MOVG ALG FRONT. WL RAISE POPS TO
LIKELY OVR MOST AREAS TO ACCT FOR MORE SOLID AREA OF PCPN MOVG INTO
FA FM THE W.

SOME LOCALES FELL INTO ONLY THE U60S LAST NGT SO WL AGN OPEN UP MIN
TEMP RANGE.

NO OTHER CHGS.

.LWX...
DC...NONE.
MD...NONE.
VA...NONE.
WV...NONE.

ARTHUR

The radar

The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

5 heavy rain, 1 flash flood, 1 flood. Local standard time, as filed.

Heavy Rain, Washington

When: June 7, 12:30 AM EST to 3:00 AM EST
Where: Washington County, Countywide
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 39.604, -77.814 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Flash Flood, Allegany

When: June 7, 2:15 AM EST to 4:00 AM EST
Where: Allegany County, West Portion
Property damage: $150,000
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 39.622, -78.699 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Several roads and creeks were flooded and some structures were damaged.

Heavy Rain, Montgomery

When: June 7, 2:30 AM EST to 4:30 AM EST
Where: Montgomery County, Countywide
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 39.136, -77.204 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Rain, Howard

When: June 7, 2:30 AM EST to 4:30 AM EST
Where: Howard County, South Portion
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 39.251, -76.931 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Rain, Anne Arundel

When: June 7, 2:30 AM EST to 4:30 AM EST
Where: Anne Arundel County, North Portion
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 38.994, -76.568 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Rain, Prince George'S

When: June 7, 2:30 AM EST to 4:30 AM EST
Where: Prince George'S County, North Portion
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 38.830, -76.847 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Flood, Montgomery

When: June 7, 7:00 AM EST to 7:00 PM EST
Where: Montgomery forecast zone
Reported by: OFFICIAL NWS OBS.

The Seneca Creek at Dawsonville crested at 7.95 feet. Bankful level is 7.5 feet.

What these are

Heavy Rain: Rainfall totals unusual for the place and season that did not produce a flood.
Flash Flood: Flooding that begins within six hours of the rain that causes it, or of a dam or levee failure or ice jam release, often with deadly speed.
Flood: Flooding that develops more slowly than a flash flood: rivers leaving their banks, or water standing over land for an extended time.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

The same day elsewhere

Every storm in Maryland in 2001 Every state in 2001 This day in weather history Warnings in Maryland, June 2001

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: 5254515, 5254521, 5254516, 5254517, 5254518, 5254519, 5254520.