EF1 tornado, La Plata to Beantown, Maryland, February 25, 2017

1. EF065 to 85 mph

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

2. EF186 to 110 mphthis tornado

   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

EF1

Date

February 25, 2017

Touchdown

3:06 PM EST (20:06 UTC)

Lifted

3:17 PM EST (20:17 UTC)

On the ground

11 minutes

Path length

8.4 miles (13.6 km)

Path width

125 yards (114 m)

Deaths

0

Injuries

0

County

Charles County

Touchdown point

38.555, -76.984

Lift-off point

38.627, -76.858

Record number

1702251406-01

A potent cold front passed through the area on the 25th. Southerly winds ahead of the boundary ushered in unusually warm and humid conditions for this time of year which led to some instability. Showers and thunderstorms developed, and this convection was able to pull down strong winds from aloft and also produce hail.

National Weather Service personnel completed a ground survey |along with radar analysis and concluded a tornado that peaked at |low-end EF1 intensity with winds of 90 MPH produced damage along a|8.4 mile path, beginning near the intersection of U.S. Route 301|(Crain Highway) and Rosewick Road in north La Plata MD. The |tornado then moved northeast lifting near the intersection of St. |Peters Church Road and Gruss Farm Place in east Waldorf.||Along the tornadoes path, numerous trees were observed to have |been snapped, uprooted, and toppled in multiple directions. The |fallen trees downed many power lines and blocked multiple roads. |Some trees and large branches also fell onto homes and garages. |Minor roof damage was also observed with the removal of shingles |and eaves. Some loss of insulation was observed near where the |tornado peaked in intensity.||Initial concentrated path of tree damage was observed near the |Rosewick Crossing Shopping Center. A narrow path of tree damage |then continued northeast near White Plains Village, where minor |roof damage in the form of loss of shingles and eaves was|observed to several homes. The tornado then continued northeast |crossing Billingsley Road near St. Charles Parkway, where more |tree and minor roof damage was observed. ||The tornado continued further northeast, peaking in intensity|near the Smallwood Village Shopping Center and Huntington|Townhouses, where the low-end EF1 damage and maximum path width|of 125 yards was observed. Numerous trees were observed down |across these areas with multiple instances of shingle, siding, and|eave damage. It was in this area where some loss of roof insulation|was observed. A light post was blown over and some windows were |also blown out. Just to the northeast a car port was lifted and |collapsed on a few automobiles. ||The tornado then continued to create areas of minor roof and tree|damage as it moved northeast, passing just to the north of the |St. Peters Catholic Church, beyond there damage became more |spotty, with the tornado likely lifting just to the northeast of |the church near St. Peters Church Road.

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

3 minutes of warning. NWS LWX issued a tornado warning for this county at 20:03 UTC, 3 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 20:30 UTC.

The county was under a severe thunderstorm watch, issued at 18:34 UTC and running to 21:49 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 0.02 chance of a tornado within 25 miles. The outlook in force was issued at 19:55 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.

Andrews Afb (ADW), 25 km from the path, in the two hours either side.

From the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of airport observations.

The Sterling radar (KLWX), 65 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 20:06 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 2017 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.