Tornado in Maryland? I learned something new today. There are.

[uppityperson]

http://www.spc.noaa.gov/climo/reports/080531_rpts.html

1230 9 NNE TERRA ALTA GARRETT MD Lat 3956 Long 7948
*** 1 INJ *** EFO TORNADO. PATH LENGTH ABOUT ONE AND ONE HALF MILES. WIDTH ABOUT 80 YARDS. MAXIMUM ESTIMATED WINDS ABOUT 80 MPH. MANY TREES SNAPPED OR TOPPLED. TWO HOUS (PBZ)

http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/weather/bal-tornado531,0,3236600.story

Storms cause widespread power outages
Cold front brings thunderstorms, tornado watches; possible twister reported in PG Co.

7:58 PM EDT, May 31, 2008

CLINTON - Thousands of BGE customers in Baltimore, Anne Arundel, Harford and Calvert counties lost power this afternoon as a cold front from the west brought thunderstorms and tornado watches to the area.

Firefighters in Prince George's County reported seeing a possible tornado touch down in the Clinton-Brandywine area, but National Weather Service officials could not confirm it was a twister.

The worst of the storm hit south and east of Baltimore, downing power lines and trees in Fairfax County, Va., and dumping large hail in the Lothian area of Anne Arundel County and parts of Calvert County, according to the National Weather Service. Thousands of Pepco customers in Prince George's County also endured power outages today.

The storms were caused by fast-moving cold air colliding with warm, waterlogged air sitting above the Mid-Atlantic, said Calvin Meadows, a meteorological technician with the National Weather Service in Sterling, Va. "The storm should be well out of our area by morning," he said.

By year:
http://www.disastercenter.com/maryland/tornado.html

http://www.tornadoproject.com/alltorns/mdtorn.htm

[Speck Tater]

1. Tornadoes are truly freaky!

I've seen three in my 62 years. One in Grand Rapids MI in the mid 1950's, one in Sterling CO in the 1970's, and one in the Imperial Valley in CA in the 1980's. The California one really freaked me out because I didn't think they ever had tornadoes there, yet there it was, clearly visible from I5, but many miles from the nearest city.

All three times it really creeped me out. They looked like living creatures, all slinky and menacing, twisting and turning, and looking for trailer parks to gobble up.

[Davis_X_Machina]

2. Few places...

...can be considered tornado-free.

One of the worst on record was in Worcester, Massachusetts, and environs in 1952.

Its base was a mile winde at one point, and was at the time the most destructive tornado in US history.

[Raejeanowl]

3. Really, Truly

I live approximately equidistant between Annapolis and (south and east of) Baltimore, and the tornado threat is real and constant, but especially in "hurricane season." The bigger storms tend to spawn the tornados. What we'll usually get is a spate of little ones toppling precarious trees, taking down dead branches, damaging aging roofs, and sending the unsecured yard stuff skittering down the road.

We got a deluge of rain, but no wind here today.

[Eurobabe]

4. Not unusual, used to seem like it though

I remember moving from Ohio to near Albany NY as a teenager, the one thing I was happiest about was "no more tornadoes!!" I was terrified of them. We never had any while I lived in the tri-state area and then I moved to Philly. Never gave a thought to tornadoes.

However, we would get warnings every once in awhile and some severe thunder and lightening storms. There were a few "twisters' like maybe F1s over the years, but nothing like what people in OK, KS, IN, etc. experience. The worst ever was when I moved BACK to OH near Cincinnati and actually saw tornado sirens on posts. Every Spring for 2 years I was freaked out, and the year I left I had to go into the basement 2X. Once I even woke up hearing the sirens in the middle of the night. Awful.

A good part of the destruction could be averted if the building codes in the US were changed. My house overseas could probably withstand at least an f4, the walls are hollow concrete block and concrete about a foot thick.

No worries, except for maybe roof tiles being ripped off!

[Wizard777]

5. We get them. I had one chase me down a main road once.

The weird thing was it followed the streets. The tornado made a left off a side street onto a main road. It chased me down the main road for a mile or two then it made a right onto another side street. I was doing 90 in a 40 trying to get away from it. But it went through the community like it was a car driving down the road. It just followed the roads all the way through the community.