A thunderstorm with very heavy rainfall, damaging winds, and large hail moved through Montgomery County around 11:30 PM on the 30th. The hardest hit area was in and around Potomac where a downburst of winds estimated up to 80 MPH downed over 150 trees.
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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 with very heavy rainfall, damaging winds, and large hail moved through Montgomery County around 11:30 PM on the 30th. The hardest hit area was in and around Potomac where a downburst of winds estimated up to 80 MPH downed over 150 trees. The first area hit by the storm was just west of Potomac along Riverwood Drive where trees were downed onto a concrete wall. The next area that received tree damage was along Falls Road between River Road and Bells Mill Road. In the Potomac Village area, numerous trees were downed onto yards and a few landed on buildings. In addition, Potomac Village sustained damage from hail between quarter and golfball size. Plants at the library and at personal residences were stripped to their stems and the windows of a local grocery store were broken. Wind damage continued southeast of town with downed trees being reported at the intersection of River Road and Persimmon Tree Road and on Falls Bridge Lane. Downed trees were also reported between Kentsdale Drive and River Road. Next, the storm downed numerous trees on two golf courses southeast of town. TPC at Avenel lost 23 large trees and Congressional Country Club reported 96 felled trees. Scattered tree damage continued on a southeast path to near Bethesda before ending. In addition to the wind and hail damage, very heavy rainfall caused Rock Run to overflow its banks at the TPC at Avenel golf course. Five holes went underwater as Rock Run spilled out of its banks, and it took two days to clear the debris from the course. In addition, flooding was reported on River Road, Persimmon Tree Road, Bradley Boulevard, and Brickyard Road near Potomac. Rainfall totals included 2.64 inches near Gaithersburg, 2.20 inches in Rockville, and 2.04 inches in Potomac.
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 30, 8:10 PM EST, 2 hours 10 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BALTIMORE MD/WASHINGTON DC 910 PM EDT MON JUN 30 2003 WILL UPDATE ZONES FOR POPS THIS EVENING. CURRENTLY ISOLATED STORMS DEVELOPING IN THE NORTHERN TIER AND MOVING VERY SLOWLY TO THE SOUTHEAST. MODELS INDICATE RAIN CHANCES WILL CONTINUE OVERNIGHT AS AREA OF ENHANCED LIFT MOVES ACROSS THE AREA. THIS LIFT WANES AFTER 06Z...BUT PICKS UP AGAIN EARLY TUESDAY. ZONES CARRY 30 POPS ACROSS THE BOARD THIS EVENING. WILL ADJUST BASED ON RADAR TRENDS LATER. NO MAJOR CHANGES PLANNED FOR THE MARINE. .LWX... DC...NONE. MD...NONE. VA...NONE. WV...NONE.
DCZ001-MDZ002>007-009>011-013-014-016>018-VAZ021-025>031-036>042- 050>057-WVZ048>055-011000- HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BALTIMORE MD/WASHINGTON DC 1040 AM EDT MON JUN 30 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 THE ENTIRE AREA CONTINUES TO BE OUTLOOKED AS HAVING A SLIGHT RISK FOR SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS THIS AFTERNOON AND THIS EVENING. WINDS IN EXCESS OF 57 MPH AND HAIL LARGER THAN 3/4 IN DIAMETER ARE CONSIDERED THE MAIN THREATS. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION MAY BE REQUIRED LATER TODAY. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN... NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. ND
WVZ051-052-010130- SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BALTIMORE MD/WASHINGTON DC 834 PM EDT MON JUN 30 2003 ...STRONG THUNDERSTORM MOVING THROUGH THE EASTERN WEST VIRGINIA PANHANDLE... AT 834 PM EDT...DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A STRONG THUNDERSTORM 3 MILES NORTH OF OMPS...MOVING SOUTHEAST AT 15 MPH. THIS STORM WILL BE CAPABLE OF PRODUCING SMALL HAIL AND WIND GUSTS TO 50 MPH. THE COMMUNITIES OF INWOOD AND MARTINSBURG WILL BE AFFECTED BY THIS STORM THROUGH 930 PM EDT. RESIDENTS IN THESE AREAS SHOULD REMAIN ALERT IN CASE WARNINGS ARE ISSUED. MANNING
WVZ053-010230- SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BALTIMORE MD/WASHINGTON DC 928 PM EDT MON JUN 30 2003 ...STRONG THUNDERSTORM APPROACHING JEFFERSON COUNTY... AT 928 PM EDT...DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A STRONG THUNDERSTORM 7 MILES WEST OF KEARNEYSVILLE...MOVING SOUTHEAST AT 15 MPH. THIS STORM HAS WEAKENED SOMEWHAT...BUT WILL BE CAPABLE OF PRODUCING SMALL HAIL AND WIND GUSTS TO 50 MPH. THE COMMUNITIES OF CHARLES TOWN AND RANSON WILL BE AFFECTED BY THIS STORM THROUGH 1030 PM EDT. IF THE STORM STRENGTHENS AGAIN...A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING MAY BE REQUIRED. RESIDENTS IN THESE AREAS SHOULD REMAIN ALERT IN CASE WARNINGS ARE ISSUED. MANNING
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BALTIMORE MD/WASHINGTON DC
958 PM EDT MON JUN 30 2003
TIME(EDT) .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE ...EVENT/REMARKS...
....COUNTY LOCATION....
0925 PM 2S MARTINSBURG WV WIND DAMAGE
06/30/03 BERKELEY LARGE TREE DOWN ON
POWERLINES CAUSING A
TRANSFORMER FIRE. LAW
ENFORCEMENT REPORT.DCZ001-MDZ009-013-VAZ053-054-010415- SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BALTIMORE MD/WASHINGTON DC 1117 PM EDT MON JUN 30 2003 AT 1117 PM EDT...DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM 3 MILES NORTH OF GREAT FALLS...MOVING SOUTHEAST AT 15 MPH. THIS STORM WILL BE CAPABLE OF PRODUCING HAIL AND GUSTY WINDS. A LARGE PORTION OF DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA...SOUTHERN MONTGOMERY...NORTHWEST PRINCE GEORGES...CITY OF ALEXANDRIA...CITY OF FALLS CHURCH...ARLINGTON AND NORTHERN FAIRFAX COUNTIES WILL BE AFFECTED BY THIS STORM THROUGH 1230 AM EDT. RESIDENTS IN THESE AREAS SHOULD REMAIN ALERT IN CASE WARNINGS ARE ISSUED. ROGOWSKI
The Sterling radar (KLWX), 24 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 03:17 UTC.
1 thunderstorm wind, 1 hail, 1 flash flood. Local standard time, as filed.
A downburst of winds estimated up to 80 MPH downed numerous trees and power lines.
Quarter to golfball sized hail was reported in Potomac Village.
Rock Run overflowed its banks.
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: 5370431, 5370701, 5370752.