Yikes!!! Maryland ranks #3 of "Top Tornado States". (Baltimore: houses, school)

[Bonez]

Do you remember?

*In 2001,the F3 Tornado hit the University of Maryland, College Park Campus that cause destruction in College Park, Beltsville, and Laurel areas.

*In 2002, a F4 tornado traveled through Charles County that cause destruction in the small town of La Plata, Maryland.

*In 2008, two small F0 tornadoes touched down in Charles and Prince George's Counties. One touched down in the Hyattsville, Maryland community of Chillum and the other one touched down in the Waldorf, Maryland community of St. Charles.

*On April 2011, a tornado touchdown near Andrews Air Force Base then traveled through Clinton, Maryland and etc.

Well, Maryland ranks third on the list of "Top Tornado States".

Source from The Baltimore Sun.
Maryland ranks third on Weather Channel list of "Top Tornado States" - baltimoresun.com

Maryland may not have as large a number of tornadoes as states in Tornado Alley, but it still ranks No. 3 on a new list of the top tornado states.
The state ranks highly because of its population density -- the Weather Channel has ranked the states based on number of tornadoes per 10,000 square miles from 1950 to 2010.
Maryland has seen 9.9 tornadoes per 10,000 miles over those 60 years. Most notable among them were the F4 tornado that hit La Plata and Charles County in 2002 and the F3 tornado in College Park that killed two sisters in 2001.

America's Top Ten Tornado States. The list was from The Weather Channel.

1. Florida.
2. Kansas.
3. Maryland.
4. Illinois.
5. Mississippi.
6. Iowa.
7. Oklahoma.
8. South Carolina.
9. Alabama.
10. Louisiana.

I guess we need to pay attention to the sky when we under a tornado watch.

[Tezcatlipoca]

I think it has a lot to do with the bay and temperature fluctuations; the same reason we have thunderstorms every night in the summer. The temperature is hot and humid during the day, but as it cools down in the night and due to the bay, storms and tornadoes are created. It also doesn't help that most of the state is relatively flat.
You will notice a common theme in all of the top states:
They're all pretty flat.
Most are in the humid subtropical climate zone.

[oldhousegirl]

Wow, had NO idea. Visiting Baltimore in a couple of weeks for son's college visit. Trying to get away from tornadoes. Surprised Georgia, where we live, is not listed. Seems like everytime it rains here - the weather men go into "Severe Weather Center" mode.

[todd00]

There's more information here. Tornado Climatology

[Tiger Beer]

They upped it because it has high population of people?

I don't know, 9.9 tornados in 60 years? According to tht statistic. So, every 6 years?

Doesn't seem like much of a tornado state.

[Tezcatlipoca]

Originally Posted by Tiger Beer

They upped it because it has high population of people?

I don't know, 9.9 tornados in 60 years? According to tht statistic. So, every 6 years?

Doesn't seem like much of a tornado state.

That can't be right.

"Historically, Maryland averages three reported tornadoes each year, most often occurring between May and July. The most powerful tornado recorded in Maryland occured on April 29, 2002, in Calvert and Charles counties. Briefly reaching F5 status, it covered more than 30 miles, and had winds in excess of 260 mph."

--Maryland Weather

The statistic from the Sun is also for every 10,000 square miles,
but... MD is only ~ 12,400 square miles, and only ~ 9,700 is actually land. So that's confusing.

I know my area (right on the border of Calvert and Charles) at least gets one every year, and in mid-summer we get warnings almost nightly.

[Bonez]

Originally Posted by Tezcatlipoca

I think it has a lot to do with the bay and temperature fluctuations;.

I agree.

[SunnyTXsmile]

Originally Posted by Bonez

Do you remember?

*In 2001,the F3 Tornado hit the University of Maryland, College Park Campus that cause destruction in College Park, Beltsville, and Laurel areas.

*In 2002, a F4 tornado traveled through Charles County that cause destruction in the small town of La Plata, Maryland.

*In 2008, two small F0 tornadoes touched down in Charles and Prince George's Counties. One touched down in the Hyattsville, Maryland community of Chillum and the other one touched down in the Waldorf, Maryland community of St. Charles.

*On April 2011, a tornado touchdown near Andrews Air Force Base then traveled through Clinton, Maryland and etc.

Well, Maryland ranks third on the list of "Top Tornado States".

Source from The Baltimore Sun.
Maryland ranks third on Weather Channel list of "Top Tornado States" - baltimoresun.com



America's Top Ten Tornado States. The list was from The Weather Channel.

1. Florida.
2. Kansas.
3. Maryland.
4. Illinois.
5. Mississippi.
6. Iowa.
7. Oklahoma.
8. South Carolina.
9. Alabama.
10. Louisiana.

I guess we need to pay attention to the sky when we under a tornado watch.

Being third really surprises me, and I can't believe TX didn't make the top 10.

I survived the F4 tornado that hit Frostburg in 1998, from my car. I was curled up under the steering wheel of my car when my car was tossed, and luckily so, as had it not been, it would have been crushed by the large tree that landed where I'd pulled my car off the side of the road into a ditch to ride out the storm.

After all the tornado pods passed, you could see where the tip of the tornado had dug a ditch straight down the side of the foothill. Tops of houses were gone. Some buildings were completely blasted away. Trees were everywhere. It was a mess. The tornado winds were so strong, they found peoples' shopping bags from Cumberland Mall, where I'd just gotten off work, including the purchased item and receipt from that day miles away; one ended up three states away, if memory serves me correctly. Now that's some serious wind.

[drs72]

In 1998, a violent, multi-vortex F4 tornado hit Frostburg. It was the strongest of the 1998 Eastern tornado outbreak. It caused significant damage to Frost Elementary and completely destroyed the homes of some kids I went to school with. They actually found debris from that storm 100 miles away in Sterling, Virginia (near Dulles). Several other tornadoes touched down in the tri-state as well. I haven't really looked recently, but I know that some of the destruction (namely trees) was still visible as recently as a few years ago. So much for tornadoes not touching down in the mountains..

[drs72]

Originally Posted by SunnyTXsmile

Being third really surprises me, and I can't believe TX didn't make the top 10.

I survived the F4 tornado that hit Frostburg in 1998, from my car. I was curled up under the steering wheel of my car when my car was tossed, and luckily so, as had it not been, it would have been crushed by the large tree that landed where I'd pulled my car off the side of the road into a ditch to ride out the storm.

After all the tornado pods passed, you could see where the tip of the tornado had dug a ditch straight down the side of the foothill. Tops of houses were gone. Some buildings were completely blasted away. Trees were everywhere. It was a mess. The tornado winds were so strong, they found peoples' shopping bags from Cumberland Mall, where I'd just gotten off work, including the purchased item and receipt from that day miles away; one ended up three states away, if memory serves me correctly. Now that's some serious wind.

Ahh! You beat me to it! Crazy story though. I was just a scared, little five year old huddled in the corner of my basement. I remember it pretty vividly though.