A thunderstorm formed over the Potomac River between King George County, Virginia and Charles County, Maryland around 3:00 AM EDT on the 22nd. This thunderstorm produced a tornado over the Potomac River just before coming ashore near Clifton on the Potomac just north of the Route 301 bridge.
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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.
The episode as NWS LWX wrote it up.
A thunderstorm formed over the Potomac River between King George County, Virginia and Charles County, Maryland around 3:00 AM EDT on the 22nd. This thunderstorm produced a tornado over the Potomac River just before coming ashore near Clifton on the Potomac just north of the Route 301 bridge. An employee at the Route 301 bridge toll booth just east of the shoreline reported seeing a waterspout form just offshore and north of the Governor Harry W. Nice Bridge. The waterspout came ashore at the Aqua-Land Marina less than one quarter mile north of the bridge. A boathouse at the marina was hit by the twister and lost nearly half of its exposed 150 foot roof. Six boats beneath the roof were damaged by fallen debris. In addition, trees were downed in and along the access road to the Aqua-Land campground. Next, the tornado moved east-northeast across the southern portion of the Clifton on the Potomac subdivision where it downed or snapped several trees. Very little damage was reported to homes. A survey team found a path of downed trees that continued east-northeast across Route 301 near the Crain Memorial Travel and Visitors Center to just south of the intersection of Route 257 and Mount Victoria Road in Newburg. The tornado apparently dissipated near Mount Victoria Road. The F1 tornado was on the ground for 1.2 miles and was estimated to be 40 yards wide. Strong winds also accompanied the storm and trees were downed at the intersection of Route 301 and 234 about 4 miles north of Newburg. The thunderstorm weakened after it exited the Newburg area, but was of sufficient strength as it moved over La Plata to produce pea sized hail around 3:40 AM EDT. When the storm moved over Waldorf, marble to nickel sized hail fell.
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 May 26, 1:37 AM EST, 47 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BALTIMORE/WASHINGTON 237 AM EDT SAT MAY 26 2001 ENERGY CIRCULATING ARND CUTOFF LOW CONTS TO BE CULPRIT THIS CYCLE. RADARS ACTV FOR THIS ELY HR...W/ LINE OF STRONG SHRA/TSRA FM EZF SSW. MDL FCSTS KEEP XCLT LIFT OVR AREA THRU OVNGT INTO THE MRNG...W/ SPD AND DIR SHEAR AND LLVL CONVGC BEING THE INSTIGATORS. H8 JET WKNS DRNG AFTN...AND THRML INSTAB RMNS LESS THAN IDEAL...BUT DYNAMICS SHUD MAKE UP FOR IT. CRRNT SCENARIO HAS PROVEN THAT ACTVTY IS SELF-SUSTAINING...A WORKED OVR ATMOS WONT KILL IT. S/WV MVS TO THE E ARND MDNGT. W/ LACK OF LLJ...HOPEFULLY WL BE ABLR TO GET A REPRIEVE TNGT...W/ ANTHR IMPLS TRIGGERING YET AGN TMRW. DYNAMICS A BIT LESS...BUT THRML INSTAB A BIT MORE. LIKE CHC POPS...BTTR TO W. OVRALL...DIDNT STRAY FAR FM FWC MOS GUID. CONFIDENCE NOT GREAT ENUF TIMING IMPLS TO GET TOO DETAILED IN WRDG. NO CHGS TO XTNDD THIS GO ARND. WL TRY TO GET ENTIRE PKG OUT THE DOOR BY 330 AM. GDAY FCSTID = 50...HTS DCA 75 59 79 60 / 60 50 30 30 BWI 74 57 79 59 / 60 50 30 30 MRB 74 56 74 55 / 60 50 30 30 IAD 75 56 77 57 / 60 50 30 30 CHO 74 55 79 58 / 40 30 30 30 HGR 73 55 72 55 / 60 50 30 30 NHK 75 60 80 62 / 60 50 30 30 .LWX... DC...NONE. MD...NONE. VA...NONE. WV...NONE.
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 tornado, 1 thunderstorm wind, 1 hail. Local standard time, as filed.
A waterspout came ashore at Clifton on the Potomac and reached Newburg before dissipating.
Trees were downed at the intersection of Route 301 and 234.
Marble to nickel sized hail fell.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Maryland in 2001Every state in 2001This day in weather historyThe tornado archive for Maryland, 2001Warnings in Maryland, May 2001
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: 5248115, 5248116, 5248117.