Thunderstorm Wind — Montgomery, Maryland

2023-07-29 · near Twin Brook, Montgomery, Maryland

Event narrative

Hundreds of trees, branches and wires blew down between Rockville and North Bethesda. Trees blew down onto cars and porches in the Bethesda Park Condo Complex, displacing residents. The roof blew off of The Original Pancake House in the 12200 block of MD-355 Rockville Pike; the roof partially blew off another building across the street. Large trees blew down onto structures in the 1200 block of Charles Road. Trees blew down on southbound MD-185 Connecticut Avenue at MD-586 Veirs Mill Road. Numeorus trees blew down along Tilden Lane. Trees blew down on MD-355 Rockville Pike at I-495 Capital Beltway. A large tree blew down onto two residences on Charles Road trapping several people.

Wider weather episode

A strong cold front intersected a very hot, humid, and unstable airmass across the Mid-Atlantic shortly after peak heating. Aided by dynamics and moderately strong shear from an approaching upper-level trough, the front spawned bands of thunderstorms that produced considerable wind damage particularly in the I-95 corridor. Some areas saw the worst thunderstorm-driven wind speeds and damage since the derecho in June 2012, though the area affected by the highest magnitude of winds was not nearly as large.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (39.0624, -77.1068)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1108179. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.