A closer look at June severe weather

 

Severe weather requires a safe distance (Photo Credit: Robin Beal)

Although less busy in terms of severe weather as compared to May, the DC Metropolitan Area sees a significant amount of severe weather in June. “Severe weather” is defined as a thunderstorm that contains any of the following: hail 1”/+ in diameter; wind gusts of at least 58 mph; or a tornado.

2024: Last June 5 was a particularly active severe weather day across the DC Metropolitan Area. A total of 13 confirmed tornadoes developed with the majority in central Maryland. They ranged in intensity from EF-0 to EF-1 on the Enhanced Fujita Scale. The two longest lasting tornadoes was one that tracked 9.1 miles in Montgomery County, Maryland and another that tracked 15.2 miles. Both were EF-1 intensity and produced widespread damage from falling trees. 

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

2015: On June 23, hail 3” in diameter was reported in the Baltimore suburb of Cockeysville, while 4” diameter hail was reported in Timonium, Maryland. That nearly tied the Maryland state record for largest hail of 4.5”. According to the National Weather Service, the last time 4” diameter hail was observed in Maryland was in 1999.

2013: A total of six EF-0 tornadoes developed on June 13 in the DMV. 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.

2012:  There were three major instances of severe weather in the DMV. The most notorious was the June 29 derecho that caused widespread damage and power outages. There were two other major severe weather outbreaks that month. One occurred on June 1 with 38 tornadoes concentrated in the Mid-Atlantic Region. Of these, Maryland had 10 confirmed tornadoes, with the strongest an EF-1 in Harford County with peak wind speeds of 86-110 mph. 

On June 22, two downbursts produced damaging winds in the towns of Bladensburg and Johnsville in Maryland. A “downburst” is an area of strong winds that occurs when cold air located high in the thunderstorm accelerates as it descends toward the ground. These winds spread out as they reach the ground, where speeds can approach 100 mph – equivalent to the wind speeds in an EF-1 tornado.