EF2 tornado in Carroll County, Maryland

On the evening of Wednesday, June 5, 2024, a tornado that had peak damage along its path of 120mph or EF2 category, touched down 2 miles north-northwest of Eldersburg, Maryland. The National Weather Service conducted a damage survey and noted an initial area of tree damage near the intersection of Tanglewood Drive and Covington Court. A rotational damage signature was evident as tree damage was pointed in opposite directions.

The tornadic storm continued its track toward the northeast with additional damage observed along Bartholow Road near Sarah Drive. This included multiple large trees which were uprooted, one of which fell onto a house. Further damage was noted up the road just north of the intersection of Bartholow Road and Cherry Tree Lane. Dozens of trees had large sections and branches snapped off and topped. Observed tree damage was spread out into multiple directions. Drone footage passed along by a trained

spotter showed hundreds of hardwood and softwood trees that were snapped near the western shore of Liberty Reservoir, behind Cherry Tree Lane.

Later, the tornado passed over Morgan Run before causing additional damage to the Lakeland Heights area. A home was seen with siding and shingle damage and a small section of roof removed near Sun Berry Court and Lake Forest Court. Multiple large

broken tree branches were noted behind the home. Drone footage showed hundreds of hardwood and softwood trees snapped in an area of forest to the northwest of Lake Forest Court. A few trees were damaged along Legacy Drive.

The damage signature to the northeast became more intermittent in nature as the tornado began to weaken. By 8:11 PM EDT, the final damage point was noted about 1 mile northeast of Gamber MD. Along Pin Oak Drive, a mid-sized tree was uprooted with multiple downed tree branches. Thereafter, the circulation dissipated while approaching MD State Route 140. No damage was noted along Route 140. A circulation evident on NWS Doppler weather radar corroborated this track as well.

Update: additional photos (areal and ground) were provided by a resident of damage in the forest along Liberty Reservoir. Based on those pictures, the peak wind of this tornado was raised from 110mph to 120mph on that point in the path. Most of the trees along the path through the woods were snapped down, and some were debarked.

On the afternoon and evening of Wednesday, June 5th, 2024, a warm front slowly lifted northeast across the eastern Panhandle of West Virginia into northern Virginia as well as central and northeastern Maryland. At the same time, low pressure tracked along the warm front causing severe thunderstorms and tornadoes to develop. Over a dozen tornadoes were confirmed in just under six hours.