EF1 tornado in Baltimore City (c) County, Maryland

Tornado May 16, 2025 · Baltimore City (c) County, Maryland

EF1

Rating

4.3 mi

Whole path

75 yd

Path width

$1.5M

Damage as recorded

NOAA records this tornado county by county. Its path ran through Baltimore City (c) County → Baltimore City (c) County → Baltimore County; the totals above are for the whole tornado.

EF0EF1EF2EF3EF4EF5Unrated

The path drawn at its surveyed width of 75 yards (0.04 mi) — zoom in and the swath grows to true scale. Other tornadoes recorded nearby that day are shown faint.

What EF1 means. On the Enhanced Fujita scale, EF1 is moderate damage: roofs badly stripped, mobile homes pushed off foundations or overturned, windows broken, consistent with estimated gusts of 86–110 mph. The rating comes from a survey of the worst damage after the storm, not from a wind measurement, so it says as much about what the tornado hit as about how strong it was.

What the National Weather Service wrote

During the mid-afternoon, a line of severe thunderstorms developed across eastern West Virginia and western Maryland and quickly moved east into the early evening hours. Radar showed a significant increase in organization of this line of storms as it moved from Frederick and western Montgomery Counties into Carroll and Howard Counties in Maryland. The first area of concentrated damage was located in Federal Hill Park in the City of Baltimore, where on that hill there were a few uprooted trees and snapped large branches in a linear path heading east towards the Patapsco River. This is where the tornado touched down at 5:51 PM EDT according to weather radar, and then moved across the river south of Fells Point toward the Canton area.

The wider storm

A line of thunderstorms developed over western Maryland and eastern West Virginia, then significantly gathered strength as it moved east into the I-95 corridor. Destructive winds, very large hail, and a tornado were observed with some of the most intense storms. Additional thunderstorms in a weakening but still severe state crossed the Appalachians overnight.

Began near Port Covengton (39.2796, -76.6096).

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 1250150. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

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