Showers and thunderstorms with heavy downpours and hail moved through the Baltimore metropolitan area during the late afternoon and early evening hours of the 21st. In Baltimore County, several streams overflowed onto roads in the Towson area.
Every event with a place to put it; 3 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.
Showers and thunderstorms with heavy downpours and hail moved through the Baltimore metropolitan area during the late afternoon and early evening hours of the 21st. In Baltimore County, several streams overflowed onto roads in the Towson area. In Baltimore, some streets were flooded on the east side of the city. High water was also reported on Interstate 95 in town. In Harford County, streams overflowed onto roads in Abington. Penny sized hail fell in Belcamp.
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 21, 2:10 PM EST, 1 hour 20 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BALTIMORE MD/WASHINGTON DC 310 PM EDT SAT JUN 21 2003 ...SHORT TERM (TNGT AND SUN)... ...OFFICIALLY IT IS NOW SUMMER... THE MAIN PLAYER TODAY IS THE UPR LVL LOW SLOWING MOVING E ACRS THE NRN PORTION OF THE CWA THIS AFTN. GRAY STRATO-CU PINWHEELING AROUND THE LOW EARLIER KEPT TEMPS DOWN FOR THIS FIRST DAY OF SUMMER (3:10) TO THE POINT WHERE IT FELT MORE LIKE AUTUMN. JUST WAIT...TEMPS WILL CLIMB LATER THIS WEEK...SEE LONG TERM DISCUSSION BELOW. 12Z ETA DID A GOOD JOB SHOWING WHERE FORCING WAS GOING TO FIRE CONVECTION NOW OVER SERN PA. THIS BAND OF SHALLOW CONVECTION WILL ROTATE TO THE SW THIS AFTN. GIVEN STEEP LAPSE RATES WITH LATE AFTN SOLAR INSOLATION...WL KEEP CHC FOR TRW GOING THROUGH THIS EVENING. THEN OVERNIGHT...WL KEEP CHC RW- GOING AS UPR LOW MOVES OFF SHORE EARLY SUN MORNING. SINCE GROUND IS SATURATED AND CREEKS ARE RUNNING FULL...HAVE DECIDED TO KEEP CURRENT FLOOD WATCH GOING THROUGH 4 AM...ALTHOUGH LEFT FAR WRN PORTION...ALLEGANY CO...OUT OF WATCH. BEST THREAT FOR HIGH PRECIP...AND THAT WILL BE ABOUT 0.5 TO 0.75 INCH IN AN HOUR...WILL BE THROUGH THIS EVENING SHOULD CONVECTION FIRE LOCALLY OR MAKE IT DOWN FROM PA INTO OUR CWA. FOR SUN...HELD ON LONGER TO CLD COVER SO HAVE TRIMMED TEMPS BACK. HAVE ALSO EXTENDED POP CHC INTO THE EARLY AFTN. BOTH 12Z AVN/ETA MDLS ARE SLOW TO MOVE THE CLDS OUT. IN FACT THE 12Z ETA SHOWS GOOD FORCING AND MOISTURE IN THE ERN HALF OF THE CWA DURING THE MORNING HRS...AND FELT LKLY POPS WERE NEEDED IN ABOUT THE NE THIRD OF THE CWA. LATER IN THE DAY SUN CLDS WL BEGIN DECREASING TREND FROM W TO E. SMZ ...LONG TERM...(SUNDAY NIGHT THROUGH SATURDAY) CLOUDS WILL BE ON THE DECREASE SUNDAY NIGHT AS DRIER AIR FILTERS IN FROM THE NORTHWEST. TEMPERATURES WILL BE SEASONAL WITH LOWS RANGING FROM THE LOWER 50S AT HIGHER ELEVATIONS TO THE LOWER 60S EAST. HIGH PRESSURE/DRY WEATHER PATTERN EXPECTED TO HOLD THROUGH MID WEEK. MOISTURE LEVELS START TO INCREASE ON WEDNESDAY WITH MORE CLOUDS MOVING. MEDIUM RANGE GUIDANCE GIVES A SLIGHT CHANCE POPS BY LATE WEDNESDAY...BUT WILL KEEP FORECAST DRY UNTIL THURSDAY (20 POPS ARE BELOW CLIMO FOR EARLY SUMMER ANYWAY). HIGHS WILL RANGE FROM THE MID 80S TO NEAR 90 WITH LOWS IN THE 60S. STILL OPT TO GO BELOW MEX GUIDANCE FOR EARLY NEXT WEEK. SOILS ARE SATURATED. CHANCE FOR SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WARRANTED FOR THURSDAY THROUGH SATURDAY. MOISTURE INCREASES AND A SHORTWAVE APPROACHES./CPW .LWX... DC...FLOOD WATCH THROUGH 4 AM SUN FOR ZONE DCZ001. MD...FLOOD WATCH THROUGH 4 SM SUN ZONES MDZ003>007...MDZ009>011... MDZ013>014. VA...FLOOD WATCH THROUGH 4 AM SUN FOR ZONES VAZ0042...VAZ053>054. WV...FLOOD WATCH THROUGH 4 AM SUN FOR ZONES WVZ051>053.
DCZ001-MDZ002>007-009>011-013-014-016>018-VAZ021-025>031-036>042- 050>057-WVZ048>055-221000- HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BALTIMORE MD/WASHINGTON DC 1100 AM EDT SAT JUN 21 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...THIS AFTERNOON A FLOOD WATCH REMAINS IN THROUGH 4 PM THIS AFTERNOON FOR EXTREME EASTERN WEST VIRGINIA...WESTERN MARYLAND... AND THE BALTIMORE AND WASHINGTON DC METRO AREAS. SCATTERED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED TO DEVELOP THIS AFTERNOON ACROSS THE AREA. THE STRONGER THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE CAPABLE OF PRODUCING RAINFALL AMOUNTS OF ONE HALF TO ONE INCH IN LESS THAN ONE HOUR. MANY STREAMS AND CREEKS ARE AT HIGH LEVELS TODAY AND SOILS ARE SATURATED FROM PAST RAINS. ANY ADDITIONAL RAINFALL WILL ONLY SERVE TO AGGRAVATE THE SITUATION. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN... NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT ANTICIPATED AT THIS TIME. CPW
MDZ006-011-212045- SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BALTIMORE MD/WASHINGTON DC 339 PM EDT SAT JUN 21 2003 ...STRONG THUNDERSTORM JUST NORTH OF BALTIMORE... AT 339 PM EDT...DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A STRONG THUNDERSTORM OVER BROOKLANDVILLE...DRIFTING SLOWLY SOUTHWEST. THIS STORM WILL BE CAPABLE OF PRODUCING VERY HEAVY RAINFALL...SMALL HAIL AND WIND GUSTS TO 40 MPH. THE COMMUNITIES OF COCKEYSVILLE...OWINGS MILLS... PIKESVILLE...RANDALLSTOWN...REISTERSTOWN...TOWSON AND TIMONIUM WILL BE AFFECTED BY THIS STORM THROUGH 445 PM EDT. RESIDENTS IN THESE AREAS SHOULD REMAIN ALERT IN CASE WARNINGS ARE ISSUED. MANNING
The Sterling radar (KLWX), 91 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 21:08 UTC.
3 flash flood, 1 hail. Local standard time, as filed.
Roads were flooded and small streams overflowed their banks.
Penny sized hail fell.
Roads were flooded by small streams in Abingdon.
High water covered Interstate 95. Streets were flooded on the east side of town.
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, June 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: 5370422, 5370424, 5370425, 5370423.