Another round of thunderstorms with very heavy rainfall moved through Allegany and Montgomery Counties during the afternoon of the 27th. In Allegany County, significant flooding occurred just east of Cumberland along the west slope of Martin Mountain after Elk Lick Run overflowed its banks.
Every event with a place to put it; 2 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. Tap one for its entry below.
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.
Another round of thunderstorms with very heavy rainfall moved through Allegany and Montgomery Counties during the afternoon of the 27th. In Allegany County, significant flooding occurred just east of Cumberland along the west slope of Martin Mountain after Elk Lick Run overflowed its banks. Flood waters damaged property in a 2.5 mile area along Baltimore Pike (Route 144) from Rocky Gap Road to Hinkle Road near Interstate 68. An apartment complex on Baltimore Pike was surrounded by flood waters. Twenty people had to be evacuated and were eventually displaced after 12 rental units sustained major flood damage. Twenty homes nearby were significantly damaged by flooding, including one which was moved off its foundation by the rushing water. An additional 50 to 75 homes sustained minor flood damage. Up to 15 private driveway bridges across Elk Lick Run were damaged and a parking lot was washed away. Three feet of creek water spilled onto Interstate 68 which forced officials to shut down the road for over an hour. Four to five inches of rain was believed to have fallen in this area in only 2 hours. In Montgomery County, dime sized hail fell in Germantown. Small creek flooding was reported in Damascus after 2.69 inches of rain fell. A few cars were stalled in high water on Clopper Road in Gaithersburg where 3.05 inches of rain was recorded. Water rushed through a home along Buck Lodge Road in Boyds. Several people were trapped in a pickup truck on West Old Baltimore Road when Ten Mile Creek overflowed in Clarksburg. Rushing water also left debris on several roads across the county.
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 27, 2:15 PM EST, 2 hours 45 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BALTIMORE/WASHINGTON 315 PM EDT MON MAY 27 2002 ...SHORT TERM...TONIGHT THRU TUE NIGHT... SCT SHRA/TSRA DEVELOPED JUST E OF BLUE RIDGE MTNS AND ALONG POTOMAC HIGHLANDS TODAY ON UPSLOPE SE WINDS. STORMS HAVE BEEN NEARLY STATIONARY DUE TO LIGHT WINDS BLO 500MB. RAINFALL RATES HAVE BEEN AS HIGH AS 1.5 IN/HR SO HAVE BEEN MONITORING ALL CELLS FOR FLASH FLOODING. FLOOD WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 8 PM FOR W 1/2 CWA. WILL ALSO MONITOR CELLS FOR HAIL DUE TO CAPE NEAR 1000 J/KG. NO PRECIP E OF BLUE RIDGE ATTM BUT CANNOT RULE OUT POPCORN SHRA/TSRA THRU SUNSET BECAUSE WEAK BDRY STILL REMAINS NEARBY. BELIEVE BDRY SOMEWHERE NEAR LINE FROM IAD TO BALT CITY THAT AREA WILL HAVE BEST CHANCE TO SEE SOMETHING DEVELOP. ANY POPCORN PRECIP THAT DEVELOPS E OF MTNS SHUD END BY MIDNIGHT BUT CANNOT RULE OUT CONTINUED SHRA/TSRA IN MTNS OVERNIGHT DUE TO WEAK UPSLOPE FLOW. EXPECTING FOG TO DEVELOP TONIGHT DUE TO HIGH DEW PTS. W OF BLUE RIDGE FOG WILL BE ENHANCED BY AFT/EVE PRECIP. E OF BLUE RIDGE SOME CLRG EXPECTED TO HELP FOG FORM LATE. WILL CONTINUE SCT SHRA/TSRA IN MTNS AND JUST E OF BLUE RIDGE INTO TUE EVE BECAUSE LIGHT UPSLOPE FLOW CONTINUES AND LLRH STILL FCST TO BE AROUND. WILL LEAVE PRECIP OUT E OF MTNS BECAUSE MODELS SHOW SLIGHTLY DRIER AIR FILTERING INTO E CWA AS UL RIDGE AXIS BUILDS IN TUE. DRIER AIR REACHES ENTIRE CWA BY LATE TUE NIGHT. THIS WILL ALLOW SKIES TO PARTIALLY CLEAR RESULTING IN ANOTHER NIGHT OF FOG. MMARGRAF LONG TERM...SOUTHEASTERLY LL FLOW IS PROGGED WED WHICH SHOULD GIVE US SOME CLOUDS AND SLIGHTLY COOLER TEMPS. ALSO SOME HIGHER CLOUDS FROM THE DEVELOPING SOUTHERN SYSTEM SHOULD ALSO START TO SPREAD INTO THE REGION AS IT MOVES TOWARDS THE S CAROLINA COAST BY LATE WED/THU. BEST CHC OF PCPN STILL LOOKS TO BE THU... AND THEN AGAIN ON FRI WI PREFNTL SHWRS/TSTMS FROM THE NORTHERN SYSTEM. SOME UNCERTAINTY CONTINUES WITH THE SOUTHERN SYSTEM...BUT THE NORTHERN STEAM BEGINS TO AMPLIFY BY THURSDAY NIGHT/FRIDAY AND WL BEGIN TO DOMINATE THE WX PATTERNS THROUGH WEEKEND. SFC HI PRES BLDG IN WITH COOLER AND BREEZY NW FLOW THROUGH THE WKND. ND .LWX... DC...NONE. MD...FLOOD WATCH UNTIL 8 PM FOR ZONES MDZ002>004...MDZ009. VA...FLOOD WATCH UNTIL 8 PM FOR ZONES VAZ021... VAZ025>031... VAZ038>042...VAZ051>053. WV...FLOOD WATCH FOR UNTIL 8 PM FOR ZONES WVZ048>055.
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BALTIMORE/WASHINGTON
1223 PM EDT MON MAY 27 2002
...ADDITIONAL REPORTS FROM SUNDAY AFTERNOON AND EVENING STORMS...
TIME(EDT) .....CITY LOCATION.....STATE ...EVENT/REMARKS...
....COUNTY LOCATION....
0220 PM LURAY VA .75 INCH HAIL
05/26/02 PAGE REPORTED BY SPOTTER.
0330 PM COUNTYWIDE VA FLASH FLOODS
05/26/02 RAPPAHANNOCK ROADS FLOODED. CARS PULLED
OVER TO SIDE OF ROAD.
REPORTED BY 911.
0353 PM AMISSVILLE VA 1.00 INCH HAIL
05/26/02 RAPPAHANNOCK HAIL COVERED GROUND.
REPORTED BY SPOTTER.
0454 PM 1 S HAMILTON VA .75 INCH HAIL
05/26/02 LOUDOUN REPORTED BY SPOTTER.
0455 PM FULKS RUN VA .75 INCH HAIL
05/26/02 ROCKINGHAM REPORTED BY SPOTTER.
0540 PM 3 SW CAPON BRIDGE WV 1.75 INCH HAIL
05/26/02 HAMPSHIRE UP TO 2 INCHES OF HAIL
ACCUMULATED ON ROADS MAKING
TRAVEL DIFFICULT. LEAVES
WERE STRIPPED OFF
VEGETATION. REPORTED BY
SPOTTER.
0644 PM CAPON BRIDGE WV FLASH FLOODS
05/26/02 HAMPSHIRE DRIVEWAY WASHED AWAY ALONG
ROUTE 50. REPORTED BY 911.
0650 PM WARRENTON VA 66 MPH TSTM WIND GUST
05/26/02 FAUQUIER RECORDED BY SPOTTER.
0900 PM WARRENTON VA WIND DAMAGE
05/26/02 FAUQUIER DAMAGED TREES AND POWER
OUTAGES DUE TO HIGH WINDS.
REPORTED BY SPOTTER.
0935 PM MANASSAS VA .75 INCH HAIL
05/26/02 PRINCE WILLIAM REPORTED BY SKYWARN.
0950 PM MANASSAS VA .75 INCH HAIL
05/26/02 PRINCE WILLIAM REPORTED BY SKYWARN.
1000 PM MOUNT JACKSON VA FLASH FLOODS
05/26/02 SHENANDOAH ROADS FLOODED NEAR MOUNT
JACKSON. REPORTED BY 911.
MKMThe Sterling radar (KLWX), 127 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 23:40 UTC.
2 flash flood, 1 hail. Local standard time, as filed.
Interstate 68 was closed by flooding and an apartment building was evacuated after Elk Lick Run overflowed.
Dime sized hail fell.
Ten Mile Creek overflowed its banks in Clarksburg.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Maryland in 2002Every state in 2002This day in weather historyWarnings in Maryland, May 2002
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: 5297991, 5297992, 5297993.