Thunderstorm Wind — Queen Anne's, Maryland

2021-07-01 · near Centreville, Queen Anne's, Maryland

Event narrative

Several reports of downed wires near Centreville. Time estimated from radar.

Wider weather episode

After a significant heatwave, a cold front approached the mid-Atlantic on July 1, 2021. A potent mid-level trough was also digging southward through southern Ontario and into the Great Lakes region, and a strong upper level jet streak was present downstream the trough axis, over the interior mid-Atlantic and northern New England. This strong upper level forcing combined with the approaching front and a lingering warm, moist air mass ahead of it caused widespread thunderstorm development on July 1. Storms occurred almost exclusively south of Interstate 78, in the environment of best instability. A number of storms became severe, taking the form of mainly linear and multi-cellular clusters but with some embedded supercellular characteristics. Straight line wind damage was the primary hazard, with a number of reports of downed trees and power outages due to winds. With the cold front remaining to the west, some storm activity continued into the overnight, but storm coverage and intensity gradually waned with the loss of daytime heating and the overturning of the atmosphere from earlier storms.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (39.0500, -76.0700)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 959047. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.