F0 tornado, Beckleysville to Evna, Maryland, July 30, 1999

1. F040 to 72 mphthis tornado

   Light damage. Surface peeled off some roofs, gutters and siding damaged, branches broken, shallow-rooted trees pushed over.

2. F173 to 112 mph

   Moderate damage. Roofs badly stripped, mobile homes overturned or badly damaged, exterior doors lost, windows broken.

3. F2113 to 157 mph

   Considerable damage. Roofs torn off well-built houses, frame homes shifted on their foundations, mobile homes destroyed, large trees snapped or uprooted, cars lifted off the ground.

4. F3158 to 206 mph

   Severe damage. Whole stories of well-built houses destroyed, large buildings badly damaged, trains overturned, trees debarked, heavy cars lifted and thrown.

5. F4207 to 260 mph

   Devastating damage. Well-built houses leveled, structures with weak foundations moved some distance, cars thrown and large missiles generated.

6. F5261 to 318 mph

   Incredible damage. Strong frame houses swept off their foundations, car-sized missiles thrown more than 100 meters, steel-reinforced concrete badly damaged, high-rise buildings deformed.

7. Unrated

   The survey recorded a tornado but could not put a number on it, most often because it crossed open country and damaged nothing a rating can be read from.

Rating

F0

Date

July 30, 1999

Touchdown

8:30 PM EDT (00:30 UTC)

Path length

3.0 miles (4.8 km)

Path width

50 yards (46 m)

Deaths

0

Injuries

0

Property damage

$10,000

County

Baltimore County

Touchdown point

39.620, -76.770

Lift-off point

39.580, -76.730

Record number

564

A thunderstorm producing wind gusts in excess of 55 MPH, heavy downpours, and dangerous lightning developed over Howard County around 6:00 PM EDT. The storm moved to the south and crossed into Prince Georges County by 6:30 PM EDT. As the storm moved through the Clarkesville and West Friendship area of Howard County, trees and power lines were downed. The storm also downed a tree in Laurel as it moved through Prince Georges County. A second severe thunderstorm developed just north of the Mason-Dixon line around 8:00 PM EDT and moved south across Baltimore County and the city of Baltimore through 9:00 PM EDT. As the storm moved through the town of Hereford in Northern Baltimore County, grapefruit sized hail was reported. The storm also produced a weak, short-lived tornado that touched down one mile south of Beckleysville around 8:30 PM EDT. The tornado moved southeast and stayed on the ground for 3 miles until it reached the Mt. Carmel area. Several trees were damaged or downed in the path of the tornado, and weak structures such as lawn furniture and a tent were also blown over. As the storm moved into the southern half of the county it produced golf ball sized hail at Cockeysville and in the city of Baltimore.

From NOAA NCEI's Storm Events Database, the narrative the local forecast office wrote for Storm Data.

No tornado warning for this county appears in the archive as in force at the moment the tornado touched down.

Every warning and watch covering the touchdown point that day, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service products. Lead time is measured from the issue of the warning in force to the touchdown time in the database, both of which were recorded to the minute by different people.

The Storm Prediction Center had this point in a General Thunderstorms Risk. The outlook in force was issued at 19:48 UTC.

SPC's Day 1 convective outlook as it stood when the tornado began, read at the touchdown point. The same archive is on the radar archive.

The live radar over the trackEvery 1999 tornado in MarylandEvery tornado in Maryland since 1950Warnings in force in Maryland nowThe forecast where you are

4 more were confirmed in the United States that day.

Ratings are the survey's, read off the damage rather than measured; the rating scale is above. Tornado counts rise through the record as reporting improved, so a year in the 1950s is not comparable with one today except for the strongest tornadoes, which were always noticed.

NOAA Storm Prediction Center tornado database, 1950-2025, the official record kept by NOAA's Storm Prediction Center.