Macroburst Hit Perry Hall: National Weather Service

PERRY HALL, MD — The National Weather Service has determined a macroburst was the severe weather event Wednesday that hit the Perry Hall area. It took down trees and telephone poles as it whirled for about 4 miles, knocking out power for thousands of residents.

A macroburst is a large downward current of air that travels more than 2.5 miles. It descends from a thunderstorm. Radar at BWI Thurgood Marshall International Airport verified the wind pattern was consistent with such a downburst at 5:55 p.m. on Wednesday, May 29, the National Weather Service reported.

Amid the windstorm, two wooden telephone poles on Silver Spring Road snapped, the report said, and trees and branches came down along Saxon Circle.

"The snapping of the telephone poles and nature of the reported and observed tree damage produces an estimate of 80-90 mph wind," the National Weather Service reported.

Damage extended from Nottingham to Middle River, officials said, near the intersection of Yvonne Avenue at Silver Spring Road in the west to Ebenezer and Bird River roads in the east.

There were about 18 instances of tree damage between these two points, according to the National Weather Service, which said all trees fell to the northeast.

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