Heavy Rain, Carroll
- When
- March 21, 12:00 AM EST to 2:00 PM EST
- Where
- Carroll County, Countywide
- Reported by
- TRAINED SPOTTER
- Coordinates
- 39.563, -77.022 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Heavy Rain and Strong Wind in Maryland, March 21, 2001
A Nor'easter moved from the North Carolina coast to New England from the 20th to the 22nd. As it passed by the Mid Atlantic region, it dropped heavy precipitation between midnight and mid afternoon on the 21st.
Where it happened
Every event with a place to put it; 15 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
The toll
- Deaths
- 0
- Injuries
- 1
- Property damage
- $110,000
- Crop damage
- None recorded
- Events
- 17
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.
A Nor'easter moved from the North Carolina coast to New England from the 20th to the 22nd. As it passed by the Mid Atlantic region, it dropped heavy precipitation between midnight and mid afternoon on the 21st. From Washington County eastward, the precipitation fell in the form of rain and totaled between 1 and 2.5 inches. A rain/snow mix fell across Allegany County. Two inches of snowfall was reported in Frostburg. After the precipitation ended on the 21st, northwest winds gusted between 35 and 50 MPH. Recorded gusts included 52 MPH at Parkton in Baltimore County, 51 MPH at Smithsburg in Washington County, 43 MPH at Tall Timbers in St. Mary's County, 41 MPH at Hagerstown, and 40 MPH at Baltimore/Washington International Airport. In Montgomery County, high winds toppled a tree onto a passing car in Bethesda, injuring the driver. High wind also downed trees onto a home in both Colesville and Silver Spring. In Baltimore County, tree limb and power line damage was reported. In Anne Arundel County, a 60 foot tree fell onto a home in Maryland City and caused extensive damage. A live power line was downed onto a dump truck in Gambrills, trapping the driver. Across the county, 8 power lines were downed by high winds and 2000 customers lost power. In Washington County, the cap blew off the back of a pickup truck and was carried 500 feet near Smithsburg. In addition, several trees were downed, a small silo blew apart, and some shingles were blown off a home.
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 Mar 20, 9:45 PM EST, 2 hours 15 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Mar 20, 9:45 PM EST, 2 hours 15 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BALTIMORE/WASHINGTON
945 PM EST TUE MAR 20 2001
12Z MDLS/18Z ETA/OBSVD DATA ALL IN LN W/ GOING FCST. ZFP UPDT WL
LRGLY BE TO FRSHN WRDG AS PCPN HAS DVLPD...OR WL IN NXT HR.
MOST IMPRESSIVE ITEM NOT ALREADY COVERED WL BE THE WND. 50+ KT H9
JET PROGGED TO WRAP ARND WELL STACKED SYSTM OFF CAPE HATTERAS BY
21/12Z. THIS LLJ WL BE SWEEPING ACRS CWFA DURING THE DAY TMRW. AM
REAL TEMPTED TO ISSUE 2ND PD WND ADVSRY. ONLY CATCH IS STBL MARINE
FLW NOT BEST ENVIRONMENT FOR MIXING...BUT STRGTH OF LO SHUD
COMPENSATE FOR THAT. WL DEFER TO NXT SHIFT.
UPDTD PRODUCTS PRBLY OUT BY 1030-ISH. GNGT
.LWX...
DC...NONE.
MD...WINTER STORM WARNING TONIGHT AND WEDNESDAY FOR MDZ002.
WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY TONIGHT AND WEDNESDAY FOR MDZ003.
VA...WINTER STORM WARNING TONIGHT AND WEDNESDAY FOR VAZ021
WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY TONIGHT AND WEDNESDAY FOR
VAZ025>031...VAZ036>040.
WV...WINTER STORM WARNING TONIGHT AND WEDNESDAY FOR
WVZ048...WVZ049...WV054
WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY TONIGHT AND WEDNESDAY FOR
WVZ050>053...WVZ055.
MARINE...SCA ALL WATERS.
HTSThe radar
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
Event by event
11 heavy rain, 5 strong wind, 1 winter weather. Local standard time, as filed.
Heavy Rain, Baltimore
- When
- March 21, 12:00 AM EST to 2:00 PM EST
- Where
- Baltimore County, Countywide
- Reported by
- TRAINED SPOTTER
- Coordinates
- 39.443, -76.616 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Heavy Rain, Baltimore City (C)
- When
- March 21, 12:00 AM EST to 2:00 PM EST
- Where
- Baltimore City (C) County, Countywide
- Reported by
- TRAINED SPOTTER
- Coordinates
- 39.290, -76.612 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Heavy Rain, Harford
- When
- March 21, 12:00 AM EST to 2:00 PM EST
- Where
- Harford County, Countywide
- Reported by
- TRAINED SPOTTER
- Coordinates
- 39.536, -76.299 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Heavy Rain, Howard
- When
- March 21, 12:00 AM EST to 2:00 PM EST
- Where
- Howard County, Countywide
- Reported by
- TRAINED SPOTTER
- Coordinates
- 39.251, -76.931 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Heavy Rain, Montgomery
- When
- March 21, 12:00 AM EST to 2:00 PM 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, Anne Arundel
- When
- March 21, 12:00 AM EST to 2:00 PM EST
- Where
- Anne Arundel County, Countywide
- Reported by
- TRAINED SPOTTER
- Coordinates
- 38.994, -76.568 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Heavy Rain, Prince George'S
- When
- March 21, 12:00 AM EST to 2:00 PM EST
- Where
- Prince George'S County, Countywide
- Reported by
- TRAINED SPOTTER
- Coordinates
- 38.830, -76.847 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Heavy Rain, St. Mary'S
- When
- March 21, 12:00 AM EST to 2:00 PM EST
- Where
- St. Mary'S County, Countywide
- Reported by
- TRAINED SPOTTER
- Coordinates
- 38.216, -76.529 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Heavy Rain, Charles
- When
- March 21, 12:00 AM EST to 2:00 PM EST
- Where
- Charles County, Countywide
- Reported by
- TRAINED SPOTTER
- Coordinates
- 38.474, -77.013 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Heavy Rain, Calvert
- When
- March 21, 12:00 AM EST to 2:00 PM EST
- Where
- Calvert County, Countywide
- Reported by
- TRAINED SPOTTER
- Coordinates
- 38.535, -76.531 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Winter Weather, Allegany
- When
- March 21, 12:00 AM EST to 2:00 PM EST
- Where
- Allegany forecast zone
- Reported by
- TRAINED SPOTTER
Strong Wind, Washington
- When
- March 21, 7:00 AM EST to 4:00 PM EST
- Where
- Washington forecast zone
- Reported by
- AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
- Coordinates
- 39.604, -77.814 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Strong Wind, Northern Baltimore
- When
- March 21, 7:00 AM EST to 4:00 PM EST
- Where
- Northern Baltimore forecast zone
- Reported by
- AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
- Coordinates
- 39.443, -76.616 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Strong Wind, Anne Arundel
- When
- March 21, 7:00 AM EST to 4:00 PM EST
- Where
- Anne Arundel forecast zone
- Property damage
- $100,000
- Reported by
- AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
- Coordinates
- 38.994, -76.568 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Strong Wind, St. Mary'S
- When
- March 21, 7:00 AM EST to 4:00 PM EST
- Where
- St. Mary'S forecast zone
- Reported by
- AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
- Coordinates
- 38.216, -76.529 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Strong Wind, Montgomery
- When
- March 21, 7:00 AM EST to 4:00 PM EST
- Where
- Montgomery forecast zone
- Injuries
- 1 direct, 0 indirect
- Property damage
- $10,000
- Reported by
- AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
A fallen tree crushed a car and injured the occupant.
What these are
- Heavy Rain
- Rainfall totals unusual for the place and season that did not produce a flood.
- Winter Weather
- Snow, sleet or freezing rain below warning levels that still caused disruption, damage or casualties.
- Strong Wind
- Non-thunderstorm winds below high wind criteria that nonetheless caused damage or casualties.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
The same day elsewhere
- Strong Wind in District of Columbia, March 21, 2001
- Winter Storm in New York, March 21 to 23, 2001
- Flash Flood and Winter Storm in West Virginia, March 21 to 22, 2001
- Flash Flooding and Winter Storm in Virginia, March 21, 2001
- Winter Storm in Vermont, March 21 to 23, 2001
- High Wind in New Jersey, March 21, 2001
- Flood and Heavy Rain in New Jersey, March 21, 2001
- Heavy Snow in New York, March 21 to 22, 2001
- Heavy Snow in Kentucky, March 21, 2001
- High Wind and Heavy Rain in New York, March 21 to 22, 2001
- Flash Flood and Heavy Rain in Delaware, March 21, 2001
- Flash Flooding in Virginia, March 21, 2001
More
Every storm in Maryland in 2001Every state in 2001This day in weather historyWarnings in Maryland, March 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 2026-09-30. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 5239821, 5239822, 5239823, 5239824, 5239825, 5239826, 5239827, 5239828, 5239829, 5239830, 5239831, 5239832, 5239833, 5239834, 5239835, 5239836, 5239837.