No tornado investigation in Maryland after storm

Overnight storm damage in Maryland apparently was not sufficient to trigger an inspection by a National Weather Service tornado survey team.

"After talking with emergency management [officials in Maryland], they didn't have anything more than some thunderstorm wind gusts," said Chris Strong, the warning coordination meteorologist at the National Weather Service's Sterling, Va., forecast office.

Strong was in the field today in Stafford and Spotsylvania counties in Virginia, surveying wind damage in and near Fredericksburg.

So far, he said, he'd seen evidence of 80- to 100-mph winds from overnight thunderstorms, but no tornado damage. The wind damaged a warehouse in Fredericksburg and knocked down an old tobacco barn and some "pretty substantial trees." Several businesses also sustained damage.

Farther north, however, Sterling's meteorologist-in-charge, James Lee, told Strong he'd seen what "likely is tornado damage" in the England Estates community of Stafford County.

Reports to the weather service overnight indicated 30 to 40 homes there were damaged by the storm.

The overnight storms were part of a powerful system out of the Mississippi Valley that dropped 1 to 3 inches of rain across parts of Central Maryland and Virginia.

The storms moved off to the northeast this morning, but lingering showers were expected to continue today. More rain is due, along with a new storm system arriving on Sunday, forecasters said.

The heavy rain caused street flooding in parts of Maryland, and many streams in the Interstate 95 corridor were running at record high rates for the date.

At the Sterling forecast office, meteorologist Steve Rogowski said the first tornado warning for Maryland was issued at 11:33 p.m. yesterday and extended to 12:15 a.m. for portions of northern Charles and southwest Prince George's counties.

Earlier reports said the warnings were triggered by radar imagery indicating rotation in the clouds.

A second warning was issued at 12:20 a.m. for northern Charles and southern Prince George's counties, and was in effect until 12:45 a.m. A third warning followed at 12:46 a.m., in effect for southern Prince George's County until 1:30 a.m.

"The storm they were warning for looks like it was coming out of the Stafford [County, Va.,] area," Rogowski said.

Wind damage reports in Maryland included roof and trailer damage southeast of Arnold, in Anne Arundel County. Trees were downed along the Baltimore-Washington Parkway and near Maryland City, near Route 198 in Arundel.

A spokeswoman for the Maryland Transit Administration said flooding along the Camden and Brunswick MARC lines forced trains to operate at reduced speeds early this morning. Penn Line trains were stopped at the New Carrollton station, and passengers had to transfer to the Washington METRO system to finish their commute into Washington.

The Penn Line south of New Carrollton was reopened at 7:34 a.m., the MTA reported, but flash flood warnings from the National Weather Service forced slowdowns that resulted in 15- to 30-minute delays today on all MARC lines.

There were no weather-related delays on the Baltimore light rail system.

frank.roylance@baltsun.com

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