A storm system is bringing strong winds and heavy mountain snow to the Cascades into the Northern Rockies. Santa Ana winds and dry conditions will support elevated to critical fire weather over coastal portions of California. Snow, strong winds, blizzard conditions, and high seas are impacting Southwestern Alaska. A Tropical Storm Watch is in effect for the Florida Keys from Tropical Storm Rafael. Read More >
...NWS DAMAGE SURVEY FOR 9/3/2020 TORNADO EVENT... .EF-1 TORNADO CONFIRMED IN EDGEWATER MARYLAND... Location...Edgewater in Anne Arundel County MD Date...Thursday, September 3, 2020 Estimated Time...5:57 PM to 6:07 PM EDT Maximum EF-Scale Rating...EF-1 Estimated Maximum Wind Speed...90 mph Maximum Path Width...100 yards Path Length...6.1 miles Beginning Lat/Lon...38.9480/-76.5695 Ending Lat/Lon...38.9233/-76.4615 * Fatalities...0 * Injuries...0 ...Summary... A supercell thunderstorm tracked east across central Maryland and produced an EF-1 tornado that touched down late Thursday afternoon in Edgewater Maryland and continued to the western shore of the Chesapeake Bay. Tornadic damage began after the storm crossed Beard`s Creek off the South River. Trees were first downed near the intersection of Edgewater Drive and Park Avenue, just north of Lee Airport. The tornado intensified as it moved east into central Edgewater, and reached its peak EF-1 strength in the area of the community bounded by Solomons Island Road (Route 2), Virginia Avenue, and Ridge Avenue. In this area damage was blown in all directions. Siding was torn from the wall of one home, and some roof flashing was damaged on another. A commercial fence was blown down to the north. However, most of the damage was to trees. Most of the trees in this area had at least some large branches ripped from their upper sections. About 10 trees in this wooded community were entirely uprooted or snapped. Some of those trees fell into power lines, and at least 2 power poles were snapped because of this. A few homes and vehicles were damaged from falling trees and branches. As the tornado crossed Solomons Island Road, it weakened to an EF-0 but continued to cause scattered tree damage with uprooted or snapped trees that were thrown generally left of the tornado track. Damage was noted on both sides of Warehouse Creek along Leeland Road and South River Landing Road. The tornado continued across South River and into Hillsmere Shores. A large tree was uprooted on the The Key School soccer field with numerous large branches strung across the 100-yard field to the left of the track. One large branch caused damage to the protective netting and metal framing attached to a scoreboard situated on the west side of the soccer field. The damage path continued east across Hillsmere Drive where a half dozen 30-40 foot tall pine trees where uprooted and criss-crossed in a northeast and southeast fashion. Further northeast along Sunset Drive, scattered tree damage was observed with several large trees snapped. One large tree was uprooted and puncturing a roof resulting in water intrusion inside the home. Additional scattered tree limb damage was observed immediately to the east northeast with limbs noted thrown to the left of the track. As the tornado tracked east, scattered tree limb damage was observed along Thomas Point Road and through the Arundel on the Bay community. A few large trees were observed to be snapped and uprooted along Cohasset Ave near Walnut Ave. Tree damage became minor near the shoreline of the Bay between Linden Ave and Walnut Ave. While wind damage from this storm was examined between Crofton, Davidsonville, and Riva, that tree damage was unidirectional, largely oriented from west east, and falling generally in the direction of the storm`s motion. The National Weather Service would like to thank Anne Arundel County Office of Emergency Management for their assistance with his survey, and our trained SKYWARN spotters who first reported the damage to us shortly after it occurred. 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. $$ CS/BKF/SMZ