D.C.’s Severe Weather Leaves Its Mark

 

Wind Damage (Photo Credit: Carl Gottlieb)

June has the second highest average annual number of tornadoes (243) in the United States.  Severe weather is defined as a thunderstorm that has any of the following: hail 1” in diameter or greater, wind gusts of at least 58 mph, or a tornado.  The Mid-Atlantic Region has seen many June severe weather outbreaks.  Below are some of the more significant ones that have occurred locally.

2019: June 2 was an active weather day in the D.C. Metro Area with multiple reports of large hail.  Hail as large as 2” in diameter was reported in Damascus, Maryland, as well as 1” diameter hail at the White House.  Having widespread large hail reports in the D.C. Metro Area is relatively uncommon compared to other parts of the country.

2016: On June 21, there were several dozen severe weather reports that included large hail, high wind and a tornado.  An EF-0 tornado, with estimated wind speeds of 80 mph, traveled more than 12 miles in Howard County, Maryland, where minor damage occurred.  Hail nearly 2” in diameter fell at Dulles Airport and several other locations in the D.C. Metro Area.  Also, on June 16 there were several cases of hail at least 2” in diameter in north central Virginia, including the town of Bluemont in Loudoun County.

2013: A total of six EF-0 tornadoes developed on June 13 in the D.C. Metro Area.  Although they were all relatively weak, some occurred in heavily traveled parts of Montgomery and Charles Counties in Maryland and caused minor damage.  This was one of the wettest June’s on record in the Nation’s Capital, with a monthly total of 9.97” of rain at National Airport.

2008:  One of D.C.’s more active severe weather days occurred on June 4.  Unlike the infamous derecho on June 29, 2012, that featured a singular destructive event, there were multiple rounds of severe weather on this date.  The first round was a powerful squall line that passed through the D.C. Metro Area in mid-afternoon.  Later that evening, several supercell thunderstorms developed and some produced tornadoes. 

1996:  On June 24, three tornadoes were reported in northern Virginia.  An F0 tornado touched down in Loudoun County and later the same thunderstorm produced a second tornado.  The second reached F2 intensity in Fairfax County near Sully Station, where the most significant damage occurred.  A third tornado reached F1 intensity in Rockingham County.