Tornado Traveled 5.5 Miles From Clarksville To Columbia: NWS

COLUMBIA, MD — A line of storms that originated near the Blue Ridge Mountains spawned an EF-1 tornado Thursday in Howard County. The storm traveled a path of about 5.5 miles, from Clarksville to Columbia, according to the National Weather Service. At maximum speed, winds were 95 mph.

The tornado made its way through Howard County from 3:27 to 3:36 p.m. on Thursday, May 23, weather officials reported Friday. At its peak width, the rotating column of air was about 150 yards.

One person injured in the tornado was believed to have suffered non-life-threatening injuries, according to the Howard County Department of Fire and Rescue Services.

The weather event was classified as an EF-1 tornado. Tornadoes are rated on a scale from 0 to 5. During an EF-1 tornado, gusts are between 86 and 100 mph in the area where damage occurs.

Here is what a survey of the storm damage and radar indicated, according to the National Weather Service:

• At the intersection of Brighton Dam Road and MD 108 in Clarksville, trees were uprooted, large branches were pulled toward one another and trees fell in all directions except to the west.
• An eyewitness in the area of Cedar Lane around Corina Court said the tornado knocked down trees and resulted in swirling debris. Most trees were uprooted, and a few were snapped, including both hardwood and softwood. One tree fell onto a house.
• Large trees were uprooted and a couple of trees snapped, falling to the north, along Shaker Drive between Seneca Farm Road and Wayover Way.
• The most significant damage was found near the 9400 block of Patuxent Woods Drive, according to the weather service. A grove of hardwood and softwood trees snapped at mid-trunk and fell haphazardly. The roof of a nearby office building was also partly taken off and blown to the east. "It is likely that this was due to straight-line winds as radar analysis showed the tornado vortex broadening rapidly," the weather service reported.

Savage and Highland also experienced "significant wind damage," according to the National Weather Service.

SEE ALSO: Tornado Confirmed In Columbia

_{Graphic courtesy of National Weather Service.}

This is what the National Weather Service said in its May 24 summary of the May 23 tornado:

A LINE OF SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS CROSSED THE BLUE RIDGE MOUNTAINS
AROUND 2:30 PM 23 MAY 2019, THEN TAPPED INTO STRONG THERMODYNAMICS AND
WIND SHEAR, CREATING A QUASI-LINEAR CONVECTIVE SYSTEM (QLCS) THAT INCREASED
IN INTENSITY AS IT TRACKED SOUTHEAST ACROSS CENTRAL AND SOUTHERN MARYLAND,
WASHINGTON DC, AND NORTHERN VIRGINIA. THE QLCS SPAWNED AN EF1 TORNADO IN
HOWARD COUNTY MD BETWEEN 3:27 PM EDT AND 3:36 PM EDT, WITH A DISCONTINUOUS
DAMAGE PATH OF 5.5 MILES, MOVING EAST-SOUTHEAST AT AN ESTIMATED 40 MPH.

THIS SUMMARY IS BASED ON A STORM SURVEY CONDUCTED THURSDAY EVENING BY NWS BALTIMORE/WASHINGTON WEATHER FORECAST OFFICE STAFF, AND ANALYSIS FROM THE WSR-88D KLWX RADAR, AND THE FAA TERMINAL DOPPLER WEATHER RADARS (TDWR) FOR DULLES INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT, WASHINGTON REAGAN NATIONAL AIRPORT, AND JOINT BASE ANDREWS. THE FAA TDWR AT BALTIMORE/WASHINGTON INTERNATIONAL THURGOOD MARSHALL AIRPORT WAS OUT OF SERVICE THIS DAY, THUS IT WAS NOT USED IN OPERATIONS.

THE FIRST EVIDENCE OF TORNADIC DAMAGE WAS NEAR THE INTERSECTION OF BRIGHTON
DAM ROAD AND MD ROUTE 108 IN CLARKSVILLE. SEVERAL TREES WERE UPROOTED IN
THIS VICINITY WITH LARGE BRANCHES PULLED TOWARDS EACH OTHER, AND FELL IN
MULTIPLE DIRECTIONS, EXCEPT WESTERLY.

AS THE TORNADO MOVED EAST, MORE CONVERGENT TREE DAMAGE EXTENDED ON EITHER
SIDE OF CEDAR LANE AROUND CORINA COURT IN COLUMBIA. ONE EYEWITNESS IN THIS
LOCATION WHO WAS INTERVIEWED SAW THE TORNADO KNOCKING DOWN TREES, RESULTING
IN SWIRLING DEBRIS. MOST TREES IN THIS LOCATION WERE UPROOTED, BUT A FEW WERE
SNAPPED. TREES HERE WERE BOTH SOFTWOOD AND HARDWOOD. ONE TREE FELL INTO THE
ROOF OF A HOUSE. ANOTHER RESIDENT IN THIS AREA REPORTED GETTING THE WIRELESS
EMERGENCY ALERT ON THEIR PHONE, FOLLOWED MOMENTS LATER BY STRONG WINDS, WHICH KNOCKED DOWN LARGE TREES.

TREE DAMAGE WAS ALSO NOTED ALONG SHAKER DRIVE BETWEEN SENECA FARM ROAD AND
WAYOVER WAY, WHERE NUMEROUS LARGE TREES WERE UPROOTED, WITH A COUPLE OF TREES
SNAPPED, FALLING TO THE NORTH.

THE MOST SIGNIFICANT DAMAGE NOTED WAS NEAR THE 9400 BLOCK OF PATUXENT WOODS
DRIVE, WHERE A GROVE OF HARDWOOD AND SOFTWOOD TREES WERE SNAPPED ABOUT MIDWAY UP THEIR TRUNKS, FALLING HAPHAZARDLY. THE ROOF OF A NEARBY OFFICE BUILDING LOST PART OF ITS ROOF, WHICH BLEW TOWARDS THE EAST. TREES WERE DOWN FURTHER TO THE EAST, BUT IT IS LIKELY THAT THIS WAS DUE TO STRAIGHT-LINE WINDS AS
RADAR ANALYSIS SHOWED THE TORNADO VORTEX BROADENING RAPIDLY.

THERE WERE OTHER TOWNS IN HOWARD COUNTY IN CLOSE PROXIMITY TO THE TORNADO
THAT EXPERIENCED SIGNIFICANT WIND DAMAGE, INCLUDING SAVAGE AND HIGHLAND.
HOWEVER, FROM RADAR OBSERVATIONS AND CONCEPTUAL MODELS OF TORNADOES SPAWNED BY QUASI-LINEAR CONVECTIVE SYSTEMS, IT WAS DETERMINED THAT THE WIND DAMAGE IN THESE LOCALES WERE LIKELY DUE TO STRAIGHT-LINE WINDS. STRONG STRAIGHT-LINE WINDS CAN PRODUCE DAMAGE EQUIVALENT TO EF0 AND EF1 TORNADOES.

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BALTIMORE/WASHINGTON WEATHER FORECAST
OFFICE WOULD LIKE TO THANK THE HOWARD COUNTY OFFICE OF EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT
FOR THEIR ASSISTANCE IN THE STORM SURVEY.

EF SCALE: THE ENHANCED FUJITA SCALE CLASSIFIES TORNADOES INTO THE
FOLLOWING CATEGORIES:

EF0...65 TO 85 MPH
EF1...86 TO 110 MPH
EF2...111 TO 135 MPH
EF3...136 TO 165 MPH
EF4...166 TO 200 MPH
EF5...>200 MPH

* THE INFORMATION IN THIS STATEMENT IS PRELIMINARY AND SUBJECT TO
CHANGE PENDING FINAL REVIEW OF THE EVENT AND PUBLICATION IN NWS
STORM DATA.