F1 tornado, Savage to Maryland City, Maryland, July 10, 2000

1. F040 to 72 mph

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

2. F173 to 112 mphthis tornado

   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

F1

Date

July 10, 2000

Touchdown

5:30 PM EDT (21:30 UTC)

Path length

1.3 miles (2.1 km)

Path width

100 yards (91 m)

Deaths

0

Injuries

0

Property damage

$60,000

Counties

Howard and Anne Arundel counties

Touchdown point

39.100, -76.800

Lift-off point

39.100, -76.820

Record number

994

Thunderstorms that produced winds in excess of 55 MPH, large hail, heavy downpours, and frequent lightning moved across central Maryland during the evening of the 10th. The strongest storm produced a tornado that touched down extreme southern Howard County then moved east into Anne Arundel County. The F1 tornado was 100 yards wide and stayed on the ground for 2 miles. It formed just southeast of High Ridge then moved east and dissipated near Maryland City. It crossed Route 1 and passed through a populated area where it caused considerable damage. Near High Ridge, several trees and power lines were downed. The tornado blew out a plate glass window and damaged a revolving door. It also blew over a line of 6 power poles, two trailers, three 8000 lb. containers, and three semi-tractor trailers. Near Maryland City, several trees were downed onto roads and buildings and a trailer was damaged. Straight line winds in excess of 55 MPH caused damage south of the tornado's path. A wind gust of 43 MPH was recorded at Laurel in Howard County. In and around Anne Arundel County, trees were downed in Severna Park, Crofton, Crownsville, Hillsmere, Odenton, Edgewater, Savage, and Laurel. In Calvert County, a tree was downed onto a power line in Lusby. In St. Mary's County, trees were downed countywide. In Charles County, trees were downed in Bryan's Road, Waldorf, and La Plata. Lightning also started a fire at a home in Bryan's Road that extensively damaged the structure. A tree was felled onto a home in Waldorf. In Prince George's County, pea sized hail was reported in Greenbelt.

The tornado downed several trees and power lines and blew over two trailers and 3 semi-tractor trailers before it moved into Anne Arundel County.

The tornado which came from Howard County downed several trees onto roads and buildings and onto commuter railroad tracks before it dissipated near Maryland City.

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 Slight Risk. The outlook in force was issued at 20:21 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 radiosonde launches on either side of the tornado, from the nearest station that was launching then, drawn and analyzed the way Storm Lab does: the same diagram, the same parcel and shear definitions SPC's mesoanalysis uses.

The Sterling radar (KLWX), 60 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 21:29 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment, over the track

Reflectivity and velocity, decoded from the Level II archive in the browser. Volumes take a few seconds to open the first time.

The live radar over the trackEvery 2000 tornado in MarylandEvery tornado in Maryland since 1950Warnings in force in Maryland nowThe forecast where you are

5 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.