Thunderstorms with high winds and very heavy downpours moved through Central and Southern Maryland during the afternoon and evening on the 22nd. In St.
Every event with a place to put it; 5 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.
Thunderstorms with high winds and very heavy downpours moved through Central and Southern Maryland during the afternoon and evening on the 22nd. In St. Mary's County, a telephone pole and wires were downed onto Drayden Road in Draden. In Prince George's County, 2.34 inches of rain was recorded in Laurel. In Howard County, up to 2.7 inches was recorded in the southeast portion of the county. In Montgomery County, Beech Drive and other roads were closed by flooded in the eastern portion of the county. A tree was downed onto the Beltway near the intersection of Interstate 270 and Route 355. Rainfall totals included 2.75 inches in Silver Spring and 2.09 inches in Bethesda. In Frederick County, trees were downed in Woodsboro and Walkerville. A total of 1.7 inches of rain fell in 20 minutes in Frederick. In Carroll County, trees were downed between Union Bridge, New Windsor, and scattered locations across the western portion of the county. A tree was downed onto a house in Detour. Rainfall totals included 2.99 inches in Manchester and 2.34 inches in Millers.
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 Jul 22, 2:30 PM EST, 1 hour 5 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BALTIMORE MD/WASHINGTON DC 330 PM EDT TUE JUL 22 2003 SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH IN EFFECT UNTIL 7 PM FOR THE SOUTHEASTERN COUNTIES. SPOTTY SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS ACROSS THE AREA THIS AFTERNOON. STRONGEST STORMS STILL NORTH IN THE VICINITY OF AN APPROACHING SPEED MAX AND FURTHER SOUTH WHERE THE BEST MOISTURE IS LOCATED. MODELS INDICATE A ROUND OF CONVECTION TO FIRE AND SWEEP ACROSS THE EASTERN HALF OF THE CWA THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING...WITH A SECOND ROUND OF SHOWERS WITH A FEW THUNDERSTORMS EXPECTED AGAIN LATE TONIGHT. WILL CARRY LIKELY POPS ACROSS THE BOARD AND GO WITH A BLEND OF MAV AND MET TEMPS FOR TODAY AND TONIGHT. MARINE: WINDS OVER THE SOUTHERN BAY AND THE TIDAL POTOMAC WILL AVERAGE 15 TO 20 KTS THIS AFTERNOON...AND THEN DECREASE LATER TONIGHT. WILL GO WITH SCA FOR THIS EVENING. CPW EXTENDED. WELL ADVERTISED ZONAL FLOW TOWARDS THE END OF THIS WEEK IS DISSOLVING INTO THE EASTERN US TROF. FRONT IS JUST TO OUR SE WED NIGHT THEN SMALL LOW WILL BRING IT BACK SLIGHTLY ON THU. FRI SHOULD BE OUR BEST SHOT AT DRY WX AND SUNSHINE AS THE BERMUDA HIGH TAKES CONTROL. BUT ANOTHER COLD FRONT WILL BE ON OUR DOORSTEP BY LATE SAT...CROSSING THRU SAT NTE OR SUN. THAT FRONT OF COURSE STALLS JUST SE AND FALLS APART. THAT SHOULD ALLOW A PARTLY SUNNY MON AND A BIT MORE SUN ON TUE. STRONG .LWX... DC...NONE. MD...NONE. VA...NONE. WV...NONE. MARINE...SCA ANZ531>534-537.
DCZ001-MDZ002>007-009>011-013-014-016>018-VAZ021-025>031-036>042- 050>057-WVZ048>055-231000- HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BALTIMORE MD/WASHINGTON DC 1130 AM EDT TUE JUL 22 2003 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR MARYLAND WEST OF THE CHESAPEAKE BAY AND EAST OF GARRETT COUNTY...THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA...NORTHERN VIRGINIA...THE NORTHERN AND CENTRAL SHENANDOAH VALLEY...AND THE EASTERN PANHANDLE OF WEST VIRGINIA. .DAY ONE...TODAY THERE IS A SLIGHT RISK OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS TODAY ACROSS NORTHERN VIRGINIA...THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA...MUCH OF MARYLAND...AND THE EASTERN WEST VIRGINIA PANHANDLE. SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED TO DEVELOP THIS AFTERNOON AS A SERIES OF UPPER LEVEL DISTURBANCES APPROACH FROM THE WEST. SOME OF THESE THUNDERSTORMS MAY BECOME SEVERE AND BE CAPABLE OF PRODUCING DAMAGING WINDS. HEAVY RAINFALL WILL ALSO BE A CONCERN. THE AIRMASS IS VERY MOIST AND THE STRONGER THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE CAPABLE OF PRODUCING VERY HEAVY RAINFALL. MINOR FLOODING OF LOW LYING AND POOR DRAINAGE AREAS WILL BE POSSIBLE WITH THE STRONGER STORMS. THE MOST LIKELY TIME FOR SEVERE WEATHER WILL BE BETWEEN 3 AND 8 PM. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN... THERE IS A SLIGHT RISK OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS OVER THE ENTIRE REGION WEDNESDAY. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION MAY BE REQUIRED BY MID AFTERNOON. CPW/MANNING
DCZ001-MDZ002>007-009>011-013-014-016>018-VAZ021-025>031-036>042- 050>057-WVZ048>055-230000- SEVERE WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BALTIMORE MD/WASHINGTON DC 1135 AM EDT TUE JUL 22 2003 ...SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS POSSIBLE THIS AFTERNOON AND THIS EVENING... THERE IS A SLIGHT RISK OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING ACROSS NORTHERN VIRGINIA...THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA...MUCH OF MARYLAND...AND THE EASTERN WEST VIRGINIA PANHANDLE. SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED TO DEVELOP THIS AFTERNOON AS A SERIES OF UPPER LEVEL DISTURBANCES APPROACH FROM THE WEST. SOME OF THESE THUNDERSTORMS MAY BECOME SEVERE AND BE CAPABLE OF PRODUCING DAMAGING WINDS. HEAVY RAINFALL WILL ALSO BE A CONCERN. THE AIRMASS IS VERY MOIST AND THE STRONGER THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE CAPABLE OF PRODUCING VERY HEAVY RAINFALL. MINOR FLOODING OF LOW LYING AND POOR DRAINAGE AREAS WILL BE POSSIBLE WITH THE STRONGER STORMS. THE THREAT FOR SEVERE WEATHER WILL LESSEN DURING THE EVENING HOURS...BUT THE POTENTIAL FOR HEAVY RAINFALL WILL CONTINUE INTO THE OVERNIGHT HOURS. THE MOST LIKELY TIME FOR SEVERE WEATHER WILL BE BETWEEN 3 AND 8 PM. STAY TUNED TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO OR YOUR LOCAL MEDIA FOR FURTHER DETAILS OR UPDATES.
MDZ003-WVZ051-052-221930- SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BALTIMORE MD/WASHINGTON DC 253 PM EDT TUE JUL 22 2003 AT 253 PM EDT...DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A STRONG THUNDERSTORM 4 MILES SOUTHEAST OF PAW PAW...MOVING NORTHEAST AT 20 MPH. THIS STORM WILL BE CAPABLE OF PRODUCING SMALL HAIL AND WIND GUSTS TO 50 MPH. THE COMMUNITIES OF BERKELEY SPRINGS...PAW PAW...SMITH CROSSROADS...SHADY GROVE AND CACAPON RESORT STATE PARK WILL BE AFFECTED BY THIS STORM THROUGH 3:30 PM. RESIDENTS IN THESE AREAS SHOULD REMAIN ALERT IN CASE WARNINGS ARE ISSUED. MMARGRAF
MDZ017-222000- SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BALTIMORE MD/WASHINGTON DC 331 PM EDT TUE JUL 22 2003 ...STRONG THUNDERSTORM MOVING INTO ST. MARYS COUNTY... AT 331 PM...DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A STRONG THUNDERSTORM 5 MILES SOUTHWEST OF TALL TIMBERS...MOVING NORTHEAST AT 25 MPH. THIS STORM WILL BE CAPABLE OF PRODUCING SMALL HAIL AND WIND GUSTS TO 45 MPH. THE COMMUNITIES OF LEXINGTON PARK...PATUXENT RIVER NAVAL STATION... ST. MARYS CITY AND PINEY POINT WILL BE AFFECTED BY THIS STORM THROUGH 4:00 PM. RESIDENTS IN THESE AREAS SHOULD REMAIN ALERT IN CASE WARNINGS ARE ISSUED. MMARGRAF
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
5 thunderstorm wind, 4 heavy rain, 1 flash flood. Local standard time, as filed.
Telephone poles were downed onto Drayden Road.
Trees were downed.
Trees were downed in Woodsboro and Walkerville.
Scattered trees were downed.
Trees were downed onto the Beltway at the intersection of Interstate 270 and Route 355.
Roads were flooded.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Maryland in 2003Every state in 2003This day in weather historyWarnings in Maryland, July 2003
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: 5368884, 5368885, 5368888, 5368889, 5368890, 5368891, 5368886, 5369158, 5368887, 5369157.