EF0 tornado in Carroll County, Maryland

A line embedded supercell developed and tracked over north-central Maryland during the late morning into early afternoon hours on Monday, March 16, 2026. This storm was part of a much larger system that brought multiple rounds of severe weather to much of the eastern United States. Rotation was evident within the storm around 2000 to 3000 feet above ground on the KLWX WSR-88D radar, prompting a Tornado Warning as the storm moved from Frederick into Carroll County. The FAA TDWR TBWI showed this rotation quickly strengthen and lower to below 2000 feet just to the southeast of the mid-level mesocyclone being sampled by the KLWX WSR-88D. The tightened lower-level rotation persisted on TBWI for 1 to 2 minutes after the mid-level rotation on KLWX had notably weakened. It was beneath the tightening low-level rotation at around 12:02 PM EDT that the first evidence of tornadic damage was found. Several trees in a weakened state just southeast of the intersection of Hawks Hill Road and Beth Way snapped near the trunk, and fell toward the east, west, and north. The parent storm motion was northeast. The trees that fell were only around 100 feet apart at most, with an undisturbed landscape around it indicating an initially very narrow vortex perhaps no larger than about 25 to 50 yards in width. The tornado then crossed through open fields, lifting the south end of a long irrigation system and rolling it about 100 feet toward the north just east of Winters Church Road. After this, the circulation continued northeastward crossing several more fields and groves of trees, as well as Little Pipe Creek. The next visible and accessible damage was noted as the tornado approached and crossed MD-75 Green Valley Road near the intersection with MD-84 Union Bridge Road. Here, a couple dozen trees fell in opposing directions (southeast, northeast, east, northwest, and north). One large tree toppled onto power lines taking down a power pole and briefly trapping a motorist between the downed wires, pole, and downed trees. Several large pine trees at the intersection had their tops sheared off, falling toward the north, northeast, and east. Two trees on a hill just east of Mill Dale Lane fell toward the north-northwest, likely just outside the circulation but in its inflow as it passed across MD-84 Union Bridge Road. Meanwhile, an outbuilding just to the southwest of MD-75 Green Valley Road suffered a near total roof collapse, with the west-northwest facing walls partially collapsed inward. Similar to the trees off Mill Dale Lane, this outbuilding may have been just outside the tornadic circulation, with the damage a result of inflow winds into the vortex as it passed. It is at this point where the tornado reached its largest and strongest, with an estimated path width of 150 yards and peak winds of 80 mph. Despite the extent of the damage, only about one-third of the trees in its path at this point sustained visible damage, with no other visible damage to other outbuildings or the farmhouse at the nearby farm. A video taken from the Carroll County Emergency Operations Center showed a swiftly rotating lowering, likely the tornado in progress as it approached and crossed the intersection of MD-75 Green Valley Road and MD-84 Union Bridge Road, just northwest of their facility. Although trees in the foreground obstructed the view and could not confirm ground contact, the video was directly coincident with radar and the observed (convergent) damage. A few trees had their tops snapped off just northeast of MD-84 Union Bridge Road, but no visible damage was noted beyond this point. It is possible, based on the rotation signature on TBWI, that the tornado could have persisted for up to another mile over open fields, but the path length in this survey can only confidently conclude a path up to this point, approximately 1.68 miles in length. The National Weather Service Baltimore/Washington Weather Forecast Office thanks Carroll County Office of Emergency Management for their assistance. Additionally, thanks to the trained spotters, media, and public that sent in reports of damage.

A powerful early season cold front spawned multiple rounds of severe thunderstorms. The first round occurred from late morning through mid afternoon, and focused mainly across northern Virginia into north-central Maryland producing scattered wind damage and a brief tornado. As the front itself crossed the region during the evening, a line of low-topped convection aided in the mixing down of an intense low-level jet, resulting in widespread 60 to 70 mph wind gusts near and east of the Blue Ridge and Catoctin Mountains.