Damaging winds and huge hail caused big problems in the mid-Atlantic on Tuesday afternoon as a round of storms marched through the region.
In addition, one tornado was confirmed by the National Weather Service (NWS) in Poplar Springs, Maryland, at 1:29 p.m. EDT Tuesday afternoon. The preliminary rating is an EF0 with 80 mph maximum winds. It was on the ground for nearly 13 miles before lifting back into the clouds by 1:48 p.m. EDT. Officials said the tornado left a path of debris as wide as 500 yards.
Brief ground stops occurred at Baltimore-Washington International Airport, Washington Dulles International Airport and Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport. The storms produced a wind gust to 62 mph along with some hail at BWI just after 2 p.m. EDT.
An even stronger wind gust occurred in Cape May, New Jersey, where an 80-mph gust was reported, according to the National Weather Service. Some 35,000 customers lost power in New Jersey following the storm, according to Atlantic City Electric. In Whitesboro, New Jersey, the NWS said a tree had fallen onto a house during the storms.
More than 35,000 customers lost power in Maryland during the storms, according to Baltimore Gas and Electric. Some Baltimore streets were inundated after the heavy rains moved through, according to local reports. Tennis ball-sized hail was reported in eastern New Jersey, and hail bigger than teacups was observed near Hurricane, West Virginia.
Photo: A tree cut a home in half in Howard County, Maryland, on Tuesday, June 21, 2016. (Michelle Basch/WTOP Radio)
Published:
Jun 22 2016 08:00 AM EDT
By Sean Breslin
weather.com