Tornadoes · United States · Maryland · 2009
EF1 tornado, (Mtn)Martin Arpt Bal to Lynch Pt, Maryland, June 20, 2009
From (Mtn)Martin Arpt Bal to Lynch Pt, this EF1 tornado ran 5.0 miles across Baltimore County on June 20, 2009, touching down at 3:44 PM EDT and reaching 150 yards wide. It killed nobody.
The rating scale
Tracks are drawn in the color of the rating. The Enhanced Fujita scale rates the damage rather than measuring the wind: the speeds are what that damage is taken to imply.
EF065 to 85 mph
Light damage. Surface peeled off some roofs, gutters and siding damaged, branches broken, shallow-rooted trees pushed over.
EF186 to 110 mphthis tornado
Moderate damage. Roofs badly stripped, mobile homes overturned or badly damaged, exterior doors lost, windows broken.
EF2111 to 135 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.
EF3136 to 165 mph
Severe damage. Whole stories of well-built houses destroyed, large buildings badly damaged, trains overturned, trees debarked, heavy cars lifted and thrown.
EF4166 to 200 mph
Devastating damage. Well-built houses leveled, structures with weak foundations moved some distance, cars thrown and large missiles generated.
EF5over 200 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.
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.
The record
- Rating
- EF1
- Date
- June 20, 2009
- Touchdown
- 3:44 PM EDT (19:44 UTC)
- Lifted
- 3:52 PM EDT (19:52 UTC)
- On the ground
- 8 minutes
- Path length
- 5.0 miles (8.0 km)
- Path width
- 150 yards (137 m)
- Deaths
- 0
- Injuries
- 0
- County
- Baltimore County
- Touchdown point
- 39.302, -76.443
- Lift-off point
- 39.251, -76.365
- Record number
- 0906201344-01
What the Weather Service recorded
An unstable atmosphere lead to the development of scattered showers and thunderstorms across Maryland. Some thunderstorms did become severe, producing damaging winds and large hail.
National Weather Service survey indicated that a tornado touched down near Essex as an EF-0. Peak winds were estimated around 70 mph. Several trees were down and there was minor shingle and siding damage reported throughout the community of Essex. ||The tornado intensified as it approached Browns Creek and Balliston Point. The tornado uprooted or snapped down a significant portion of large trees in the community along Island View Road. The tornado across this area was classified as an EF-1 with peak winds of 90 mph. The tornado finally weakened as it moved over the Bay.
From NOAA NCEI's Storm Events Database, the narrative the local forecast office wrote for Storm Data.
The warnings
No tornado warning for this county appears in the archive as in force at the moment the tornado touched down.
The county was under a tornado watch, issued at 19:06 UTC and running to 20:55 UTC.
| Issued (UTC) | Expired | Product | Office |
|---|---|---|---|
| 19:06 UTC | 20:55 UTC | Tornado Watch | LWX |
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 forecast that day
The Storm Prediction Center had this point in a Slight Risk, with a 0.05 chance of a tornado within 25 miles. The outlook in force was issued at 16:22 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 surface observations
Baltimore/Martin (MTN), 6 km from the path, in the two hours either side.
| Time (UTC) | Temp (°F) | Dew point (°F) | Wind | Gust (kt) | Pressure (mb) | Weather |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 17:45 UTC | 77 | 75.2 | 150° 6 kt | 1002 | BR | |
| 18:45 UTC | 80.6 | 75.2 | 140° 9 kt | 1000.7 | BR | |
| 19:50 UTC | 77 | 73.4 | 150° 6 kt | 1000 | -RA | |
| 20:50 UTC | 80.6 | 75.2 | 0° 0 kt | 999.7 |
From the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of airport observations.
The radar
The Dover AFB radar (KDOX), 97 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 19:45 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.
What was reported nearby
Local storm reports within 60 km of the path, in the three hours either side.
| Time (UTC) | Report | Where | County | Remark |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 19:31 UTC | TORNADO | Pleasant Hills | Harford, MD | EF0 RATED DAMAGE. SEVERAL LARGE TREES KNOCKED DOWN. ONE FELL ON A DELIVERY TRUCK. PATH LENGTH THREE MILES. WIDTH 100 YARDS. PEAK WIND 75 MPH. |
| 19:40 UTC | HAIL 1.25 | 1 Nw Middle River | Baltimore, MD | HAIL RANGED FROM QUARTER SIZE TO HALF DOLLAR SIZE |
| 19:44 UTC | TORNADO | 1 Ese Essex | Baltimore, MD | EF1 RATED DAMAGE. TWO TREES INTO HOUSES. DOZENS OF TREES SNAPPED OR UPROOTED. PATH LENGTH FIVE MILES. WIDTH 150 YDS. PEAK WIND 90 MPH. |
| 20:05 UTC | WATER SPOUT | 2 N Stevensville | Queen Anne'S, MD | SEVERAL WATERSPOUTS REPORTED ON THE CHESAPEAKE BAY IN THE VICINITY OF LOVE POINT. |
| 20:09 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | Joppa | Harford, MD | TREE AND STRUCTURE DAMAGE REPORTED ALONG JOPPA FARM ROAD |
| 20:10 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | Essex | Baltimore, MD | TREES DOWN ON HOUSES ALONG LANSING AVENUE |
| 20:15 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | 5 Sse Overton | Queen Anne'S, MD | SWATH OF DAMAGE TO CORN FIELD IN GRASONVILLE. |
From the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service local storm reports.
This ground now
The live radar over the trackEvery 2009 tornado in MarylandEvery tornado in Maryland since 1950Warnings in force in Maryland nowThe forecast where you are
The other tornadoes of June 20, 2009
14 more were confirmed in the United States that day.
| Date | Time | Rating | Where | Path (mi) | Width (yd) | Deaths | Injuries | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| June 20 | 3:31 PM EDT | EF0 | Harford, MD | 1.0 | 100 | |||
| June 20 | 2:40 PM PDT | EF0 | Elko, NV | 0.2 | 50 | |||
| June 20 | 3:00 PM PDT | EF0 | Elko, NV | 0.3 | 50 | |||
| June 20 | 5:44 PM CDT | EF0 | Kiowa, KS | 1.0 | 50 | |||
| June 20 | 6:10 PM CDT | EF0 | Coffey, KS | 1.4 | 25 | |||
| June 20 | 6:17 PM CDT | EF1 | Pawnee, KS | 5.0 | 100 | $50,000 | ||
| June 20 | 7:11 PM CDT | EF0 | Franklin, KS | 0.3 | 25 | |||
| June 20 | 7:22 PM CDT | EF0 | Lane, KS | 4.2 | 50 | |||
| June 20 | 7:44 PM CDT | EF0 | Barton, KS | 1.2 | 50 | 2 | $75,000 | |
| June 20 | 7:55 PM CDT | EF1 | McPherson, KS | 0.9 | 75 | $75,000 | ||
| June 20 | 8:05 PM CDT | EF0 | McPherson, KS | 4.5 | 100 | $200,000 | ||
| June 20 | 8:45 PM CDT | EF0 | Marion, KS | 0.9 | 75 | $100,000 | ||
| June 20 | 9:10 PM CDT | EF0 | Lincoln, KS | 1.2 | 55 | |||
| June 20 | 9:12 PM CDT | EF0 | Lincoln, KS | 0.4 | 50 |
What this means
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.
Sources
NOAA Storm Prediction Center tornado database, 1950-2025, the official record kept by NOAA's Storm Prediction Center.