EF0 tornado, New Windsor, Maryland, March 16, 2026

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, as surveyed

EF0, preliminary

Date

March 16, 2026

Touchdown

12:02 PM EDT (16:02 UTC)

Lifted

12:05 PM EDT (16:05 UTC)

On the ground

3 minutes

Path length

1.6 miles (2.6 km)

Path width

150 yards (137 m)

Deaths

0

Injuries

0

County

Carroll County

Touchdown point

39.536, -77.129

Lift-off point

39.557, -77.115

Highest wind the damage implies

80 mph

Surveyed by

NWS LWX

The office's name for it

New Windsor

Survey last edited

March 25, 2026

Record number

None yet. SPC numbers 2026 in the spring of 2027.

...NWS Damage Survey for 03/16/26 New Windsor, MD Tornado...

.New Windsor, MD Tornado...

Rating: EF-0

Estimated Peak Wind: 80 mph

Path Length /statute/: 1.68 miles

Path Width /maximum/: 150 yards

Fatalities: 0

Injuries: 0

Start Date: 03/16/2026

Start Time: 12:02 PM EDT

Start Location: 2 SSE Linwood / Carroll County / MD

Start Lat/Lon: 39.53609 / -77.12975

End Date: 03/11/2026

End Time: 12:05 PM EDT

End Location: 2 ESE Linwood / Carroll County / MD

End Lat/Lon: 39.55740 / -77.11459

Survey Summary:

A line embedded supercell developed and tracked over north-central

Maryland during the late morning into early afternoon hours on

Monday, March 16, 2026. This storm was part of a much larger system

that brought multiple rounds of severe weather to much of the

eastern United States.

Rotation was evident within the storm around 2000 to 3000 feet above

ground on the KLWX WSR-88D radar, prompting a Tornado Warning as the

storm moved from Frederick into Carroll County. The FAA TDWR TBWI

showed this rotation quickly strengthen and lower to below 2000 feet

just to the southeast of the mid-level mesocyclone being sampled by

the KLWX WSR-88D. The tightened lower-level rotation persisted on

TBWI for 1 to 2 minutes after the mid-level rotation on KLWX had

notably weakened.

It was beneath the tightening low-level rotation at around 12:02 PM

EDT that the first evidence of tornadic damage was found. Several

trees in a weakened state just southeast of the intersection of

Hawks Hill Road and Beth Way snapped near the trunk, and fell toward

the east, west, and north. The parent storm motion was northeast.

The trees that fell were only around 100 feet apart at most, with an

undisturbed landscape around it indicating an initially very narrow

vortex perhaps no larger than about 25 to 50 yards in width.

The tornado then crossed through open fields, lifting the south end

of a long irrigation system and rolling it about 100 feet toward the

north just east of Winters Church Road.

After this, the circulation continued northeastward crossing several

more fields and groves of trees, as well as Little Pipe Creek. The

next visible and accessible damage was noted as the tornado

approached and crossed MD-75 Green Valley Road near the intersection

with MD-84 Union Bridge Road. Here, a couple dozen trees fell in

opposing directions (southeast, northeast, east, northwest, and

north). One large tree toppled onto power lines taking down a power

pole and briefly trapping a motorist between the downed wires, pole,

and downed trees. Several large pine trees at the intersection had

their tops sheared off, falling toward the north, northeast, and

east. Two trees on a hill just east of Mill Dale Lane fell toward

the north-northwest, likely just outside the circulation but in its

inflow as it passed across MD-84 Union Bridge Road. Meanwhile, an

outbuilding just to the southwest of MD-75 Green Valley Road

suffered a near total roof collapse, with the west-northwest facing

walls partially collapsed inward. Similar to the trees off Mill Dale

Lane, this outbuilding may have been just outside the tornadic

circulation, with the damage a result of inflow winds into the

vortex as it passed. It is at this point where the tornado reached

its largest and strongest, with an estimated path width of 150 yards

and peak winds of 80 mph. Despite the extent of the damage, only

about one-third of the trees in its path at this point sustained

visible damage, with no other visible damage to other outbuildings

or the farmhouse at the nearby farm.

A video taken from the Carroll County Emergency Operations Center

showed a swiftly rotating lowering, likely the tornado in progress

as it approached and crossed the intersection of MD-75 Green Valley

Road and MD-84 Union Bridge Road, just northwest of their facility.

Although trees in the foreground obstructed the view and could not

confirm ground contact, the video was directly coincident with radar

and the observed (convergent) damage.

A few trees had their tops snapped off just northeast of MD-84 Union

Bridge Road, but no visible damage was noted beyond this point. It

is possible, based on the rotation signature on TBWI, that the

tornado could have persisted for up to another mile over open

fields, but the path length in this survey can only confidently

conclude a path up to this point, approximately 1.68 miles in length.

The National Weather Service Baltimore/Washington Weather Forecast

Office thanks Carroll County Office of Emergency Management for

their assistance. Additionally, thanks to the trained spotters,

media, and public that sent in reports of damage.

Written by NWS LWX in the NWS Damage Assessment Toolkit. A survey is revised as better evidence arrives.

4 damage points were recorded along this path by NWS LWX, in the Damage Assessment Toolkit the survey teams carry. The strongest indicator was rated EF0. The highest wind the damage implies is 80 mph.

• Multiple large pine trees blown over. Largest ones fell toward the north-northeast, but several we’re down toward the east. More notably, smaller non-pine trees were uprooted laying towards each other on either side of the road, and across an adjacent field, laying both toward the south and toward the west.
• Large outbuilding suffered near total roof collapse with west-northwest facing walls partially collapsed inward.
• Large sprinkler twisted and tossed north.
• A few weakened trees snapped, falling toward the east, west, and north.

Survey points are preliminary and are the raw material the published rating was built from. Source: NWS Damage Assessment Toolkit.

A powerful early season cold front spawned multiple rounds of severe thunderstorms. The first round occurred from late morning through mid afternoon, and focused mainly across northern Virginia into north-central Maryland producing scattered wind damage and a brief tornado. As the front itself crossed the region during the evening, a line of low-topped convection aided in the mixing down of an intense low-level jet, resulting in widespread 60 to 70 mph wind gusts near and east of the Blue Ridge and Catoctin Mountains.

A line embedded supercell developed and tracked over north-central Maryland during the late morning into early afternoon hours on Monday, March 16, 2026. This storm was part of a much larger system that brought multiple rounds of severe weather to much of the eastern United States. Rotation was evident within the storm around 2000 to 3000 feet above ground on the KLWX WSR-88D radar, prompting a Tornado Warning as the storm moved from Frederick into Carroll County. The FAA TDWR TBWI showed this rotation quickly strengthen and lower to below 2000 feet just to the southeast of the mid-level mesocyclone being sampled by the KLWX WSR-88D. The tightened lower-level rotation persisted on TBWI for 1 to 2 minutes after the mid-level rotation on KLWX had notably weakened. It was beneath the tightening low-level rotation at around 12:02 PM EDT that the first evidence of tornadic damage was found. Several trees in a weakened state just southeast of the intersection of Hawks Hill Road and Beth Way snapped near the trunk, and fell toward the east, west, and north. The parent storm motion was northeast. The trees that fell were only around 100 feet apart at most, with an undisturbed landscape around it indicating an initially very narrow vortex perhaps no larger than about 25 to 50 yards in width. The tornado then crossed through open fields, lifting the south end of a long irrigation system and rolling it about 100 feet toward the north just east of Winters Church Road. After this, the circulation continued northeastward crossing several more fields and groves of trees, as well as Little Pipe Creek. The next visible and accessible damage was noted as the tornado approached and crossed MD-75 Green Valley Road near the intersection with MD-84 Union Bridge Road. Here, a couple dozen trees fell in opposing directions (southeast, northeast, east, northwest, and north). One large tree toppled onto power lines taking down a power pole and briefly trapping a motorist between the downed wires, pole, and downed trees. Several large pine trees at the intersection had their tops sheared off, falling toward the north, northeast, and east. Two trees on a hill just east of Mill Dale Lane fell toward the north-northwest, likely just outside the circulation but in its inflow as it passed across MD-84 Union Bridge Road. Meanwhile, an outbuilding just to the southwest of MD-75 Green Valley Road suffered a near total roof collapse, with the west-northwest facing walls partially collapsed inward. Similar to the trees off Mill Dale Lane, this outbuilding may have been just outside the tornadic circulation, with the damage a result of inflow winds into the vortex as it passed. It is at this point where the tornado reached its largest and strongest, with an estimated path width of 150 yards and peak winds of 80 mph. Despite the extent of the damage, only about one-third of the trees in its path at this point sustained visible damage, with no other visible damage to other outbuildings or the farmhouse at the nearby farm. A video taken from the Carroll County Emergency Operations Center showed a swiftly rotating lowering, likely the tornado in progress as it approached and crossed the intersection of MD-75 Green Valley Road and MD-84 Union Bridge Road, just northwest of their facility. Although trees in the foreground obstructed the view and could not confirm ground contact, the video was directly coincident with radar and the observed (convergent) damage. A few trees had their tops snapped off just northeast of MD-84 Union Bridge Road, but no visible damage was noted beyond this point. It is possible, based on the rotation signature on TBWI, that the tornado could have persisted for up to another mile over open fields, but the path length in this survey can only confidently conclude a path up to this point, approximately 1.68 miles in length. The National Weather Service Baltimore/Washington Weather Forecast Office thanks Carroll County Office of Emergency Management for their assistance. Additionally, thanks to the trained spotters, media, and public that sent in reports of damage.

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 15:59 UTC, 3 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 16:15 UTC.

The county was under a tornado watch, issued at 14:58 UTC and running to 19:18 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 0.10 chance of a tornado within 25 miles, in the hatched area where significant tornadoes were expected. The outlook in force was issued at 12:32 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.

Westminster (DMW), 12 km from the path, in the two hours either side.

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

The Sterling radar (KLWX), 71 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 16:04 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 2026 tornado in MarylandEvery tornado in Maryland since 1950Warnings in force in Maryland nowThe forecast where you are

10 more have been surveyed in the United States that day, so far.

Ratings are the survey's, read off the damage rather than measured; the rating scale is above. A survey can be revised, so the rating, the path and the casualties can all still change.

NWS Damage Assessment Toolkit, the record the survey teams file from the damage, and NOAA Storm Prediction Center storm reports. Neither is the official database for 2026, which SPC publishes in the spring of 2027.