Significant April Severe Weather Events

 

Thunderstorm Wind Damage, Olney, MD
April 2020 (Photo Credit: Carl Gottlieb)

Although more common later in the spring, DC-Area residents have experienced some memorable April severe weather events.  A “severe” thunderstorm is defined as one that contains any of the following: hail 1”/+ in diameter; wind gusts of at least 58 mph; or a tornado.  Some recent April severe weather outbreaks stand out.  

2020:  A severe weather outbreak occurred in the Mid-Atlantic Region on April 13 with multiple reports of damaging and/or severe wind gusts.  An EF-1 tornado was also reported in Carroll Co., MD, with 1” hail in Glenmont (Montgomery County), Maryland and Franconia (Fairfax County), Virginia.  Daily rainfall records were also set at all 3 local airports with 2.33” at National Airport, 1.79” at Dulles Airport and 1.97” at BWI Airport.

2017:  The April 6, 2017 severe weather outbreak wasn’t memorable for being large, but for where it occurred.  The local National Weather Service Forecast Office in Sterling, Virginia confirmed a total of seven tornadoes touched down in the DC Metro Area.  They were all weak tornadoes and no fatalities were reported.  However, two of the seven tornadoes occurred within the District of Columbia.  Given its relatively small geographic size, tornadoes within DC city limits are rare.  These were the first tornadoes to touch down in the Nation’s Capital since September 24, 2001.      

2011:  One of the largest severe weather outbreaks on record occurred from April 25 – 28.  NOAA’s Storm Prediction Center counted a national four-day total of more than 2,300 severe weather reports.  Of that total, nearly 500 were confirmed tornadoes.  The most active severe weather day of this four-day stretch was April 27, when nearly 300 tornadoes touched down and caused more than 200 fatalities.  A total of four EF-5 tornadoes were observed on April 27, 2011.  That remains the highest daily total since the “Super Outbreak” of April 3-4, 1974.    

The DC Metro Area also saw some severe weather, including tornadoes, on April 27-28, 2011.  A total of 19 confirmed tornadoes occurred in Maryland and Virginia during this two-day period.  The strongest was an EF-2 with winds of 130 mph in Rockingham and Shenandoah Counties in Virginia.  

2002: Longtime residents of the Mid-Atlantic Region may recall that Maryland’s strongest tornado on record occurred on April 28.  That’s when the town of La Plata in Charles County was decimated by an F4 tornado with wind speeds of 207-260 mph.  This tornado was on the ground for nearly 70 miles, including 24 miles in Charles County.  It reached its peak intensity while passing through the town of La Plata.  The town has since been rebuilt and is booming.    

The La Plata tornado was one of 18 tornadoes that developed on April 28 as part of a larger severe weather outbreak.  Because the original Fujita Tornado Scale was updated and became the “Enhanced Fujita” (or “EF”) Scale in 2007, the La Plata F4 would now be ranked an EF-5 – as strong as tornadoes get.  

While not as common as in other parts of the country, these outbreaks illustrate that severe weather can occur in the Mid-Atlantic Region and be damaging and deadly.  Knowing what weather watches and warnings mean and what to do in the event a severe thunderstorm or tornado warning is issued for your area is vital.