F1 tornado, Earleville to Town Pt, Maryland, May 13, 2002

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

May 13, 2002

Touchdown

4:20 PM EDT (20:20 UTC)

Path length

4.0 miles (6.4 km)

Path width

80 yards (73 m)

Deaths

0

Injuries

0

Property damage

$100,000

County

Cecil County

Touchdown point

39.430, -75.950

Lift-off point

39.450, -75.880

Record number

674

A supercell thunderstorm produced two tornadoes in southern Cecil County and hail as large as golf balls. Damage was estimated at $170,000. No injuries were reported. Both tornadoes were estimated at F1 on the Fujita Scale with maximum winds near the high end of the F1 scale, around 110 mph. About 800 persons lost power. All power was restored by the 14th.Walnut to golf ball size hail fell from Crystal City east through Scotchmans Glen. A funnel cloud formed over Crystal Beach and one tornado touched down just to the west of Maryland State Route 282 and east of White Crystal Beach. It quickly intensified to F1. A barn was destroyed near Crystal Beach Road. A couple of homes had siding and shingles ripped from them. From there the tornado weakened to F0, but still tore down many trees and snapped utility poles. The tornado intensified again to F1 as it crossed Glebe Road. A 100 to 200 foot barn exploded; its 100 year old house was damaged. Several homes were damaged along Glebe Road. In total, the tornado damaged seven homes and destroyed several outbuildings and barns. The tornado lifted just before it reached the Bohemia River. Its path length was 4.0 miles and its maximum path width was about 80 yards. A second tornado touched farther downstream on the Bohemia River just southeast of Two Rivers. The tornado moved northeast and lifted near Hack Point. The worst damage occurred at the marina on the Bohemia River. Fifty boats were damaged. One sail boat sank, others were toppled and had their canvas sails shredded. Two trees fell on one home near the marina. The rest of the tornado wind damage was mainly inflicted on large trees which were knocked down. The tornado's path length was about 1.5 miles and its maximum path width was about 100 yards. While the tornado lifted, the supercell thunderstorm continued to produce damaging wind gusts farther east in Cecil County. In Chesapeake City, wires were knocked down on Maryland State Route 213 and several large trees were also knocked down.

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

18 minutes of warning. NWS PHI issued a tornado warning for this county at 20:02 UTC, 18 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 20:45 UTC.

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 Moderate Risk, with a 0.05 chance of a tornado within 25 miles. The outlook in force was issued at 20:02 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 2002 tornado in MarylandEvery tornado in Maryland since 1950Warnings in force in Maryland nowThe forecast where you are

6 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.