EF0 tornado, Florence to Pine Orchard, Maryland, June 21, 2016

1. EF065 to 85 mphthis tornado

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

2. EF186 to 110 mph

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

3. 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.

4. 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.

5. EF4166 to 200 mph

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

6. 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.

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

EF0

Date

June 21, 2016

Touchdown

1:29 PM EDT (17:29 UTC)

Lifted

1:48 PM EDT (17:48 UTC)

On the ground

19 minutes

Path length

12.6 miles (20.3 km)

Path width

500 yards (457 m)

Deaths

0

Injuries

0

County

Howard County

Touchdown point

39.331, -77.112

Lift-off point

39.266, -76.891

Record number

1606211129-01

Scattered showers and thunderstorms formed ahead of an approaching cold front. Plenty of warm air and moisture advection on unilateral southerly flow provided the instability and shear to be conducive for thunderstorm development.

The National Weather Service, Baltimore-Washington DC Weather|Forecast Office, conducted a survey of storm damage that occurred in|western Howard County Maryland from severe storms that struck that|county shortly after 1 pm EDT on Tuesday, June 21, 2016. Estimated maximum wind speed was 80 mph, making the tornado an EF-0.||Initial tornado touchdown was established near the intersection of|Old Annapolis Road and St. Michaels Road just southwest of Lisbon at|129 PM EDT. Properties there sustained tree damage with multiple|trees snapped, uprooted, and topped in multiple directions. A large|garage had its doors bowed by the wind. Small objects were lofted.||The tornado continued towards the southeast, passing through the|areas of Glenwood and Glenelg, before lifting just before Ellicott|City in the vicinity of Manor Lane and Carroll Mill Road. Along its|path, the tornado caused nearly continuous tree damage, with large|trees and tree branches snapped, uprooted, and topped in multiple|directions. The trees downed many power lines and blocked multiple|roads. Some trees and large branches fell on homes and garages.|There were a few instances of minor roofing damage from the wind,|but largely home damage was limited to tree falls. Several small|outbuildings were either damaged or destroyed.||Minor wind damage from strong thunderstorm winds continued southeast|into Ellicott City, but no tornado damage was found. Tree damage from thunderstorm downburst (straight-line) winds was noted as far west as Schafferville Rd, between Long Corner Rd and Florence Road.

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. One was issued for the county at another hour that day.

The county was under a severe thunderstorm watch, issued at 17:09 UTC and running to 02:09 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 Slight Risk, with a 0.05 chance of a tornado within 25 miles. The outlook in force was issued at 16:30 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), 55 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 17:31 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.

Local storm reports within 60 km of the path, in the three hours either side.

From the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service local storm reports.

The live radar over the trackEvery 2016 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.