- 2001 Maryland, Virginia, and Washington, D.C. tornado outbreak
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Maryland, Virginia, and Washington, DC Tornado Outbreak Picture of the tornado which hit the University of Maryland, College Park campus, killing two people.
Date of tornado outbreak: September 24, 2001 Duration1: Maximum rated tornado2: F4 tornado Tornadoes caused: 7 Damages: $105.157 million (2001 USD) $128.03 million (2008 USD) Fatalities: 2 confirmed Areas affected: Maryland, Virginia, Washington, D.C. 1Time from first tornado to last tornado
2Most severe tornado damage; see Fujita ScaleThe Maryland, Virginia, and Washington, D.C., tornado outbreak of 2001 was the most dramatic recent tornado event to directly affect the Baltimore-Washington metropolitan area in the United States.[1] The outbreak occurred on September 24, 2001, and was responsible for two deaths and 57 injuries.[2]
The first tornado of the outbreak was also the strongest - an F4 (see Fujita scale) tornado that left a 10-mile-long damage path through rural Culpeper and Fauquier Counties in Virginia. Weak (F1) tornadoes east of Warrenton, and just west of Dulles International Airport soon followed.
A second supercell to the southeast spawned the family of tornadoes that moved through Washington. A first tornado (F0) was confirmed in the Quantico, and nearby Prince William Forest Park areas; this was soon followed by an F1 tornado that left a 15-mile-long path parallel to I-95 and I-395 through Franconia, western Alexandria, and southeastern Arlington. This tornado dissipated near the west end of the National Mall in Washington, D.C., and was followed by many reports of funnel clouds.
A Doppler weather radar image of the College Park tornado near its peak at 21:21 UTC.
The same storm soon produced a violent, multiple-vortex F3 tornado in College Park, Maryland. This storm moved at peak intensity through the University of Maryland, College Park campus, and then moved parallel to I-95 through the Beltsville, Maryland, area, where the tornado caused extensive damage to greenhouses and other facilities of the USDA Beltsville Agricultural Research Center.[3] The storm continued on to Laurel, Maryland, where F3 damage was also noted. The damage path from this storm was measured at 17.5 miles in length, and this tornado caused two deaths and 55 injuries, along with $101 million in property damage.
The two deaths at College Park were Colleen and Erin Marlatt, who died when their car was picked up by the tornado near the Easton Hall dormitory and thrown into a tree in a parking area.[4]
Contents
Confirmed tornadoes
Confirmed
TotalConfirmed
F0Confirmed
F1Confirmed
F2Confirmed
F3Confirmed
F4Confirmed
F57 1 3 1 1 1 0 List of reported tornadoes - September 24, 2001 F# Location County Coord. Time (UTC) Path length Damage Virginia F4 Rixeyville area Culpeper, Fauquier 38°09′N 78°13′W / 38.15°N 78.217°W 1903 10 miles (16 km) F1 W of Gordonsville Orange 38°34′N 77°59′W / 38.567°N 77.983°W 1935 0.2 miles (0.32 km) F1 The Plains area Fauquier 38°51′N 77°47′W / 38.85°N 77.783°W 1949 6 miles (9.7 km) F0 Garrisonville area Stafford, Prince William 38°29′N 77°25′W / 38.483°N 77.417°W 2010 12 miles (19 km) F1 Newington area Fairfax, Alexandria, Arlington, District of Columbia 38°44′N 77°11′W / 38.733°N 77.183°W 2044 11 miles (18 km) Maryland F3 Hyattsville area Prince George's, Howard 38°56′N 76°59′W / 38.933°N 76.983°W 2119 17.5 miles (28.2 km) 2 deaths Pennsylvania F2 S of Hanover York 39°44′N 76°59′W / 39.733°N 76.983°W 2333 5 miles (8.0 km) See also
- List of North American tornadoes and tornado outbreaks
- List of District of Columbia tornadoes
- Tornadoes of 2001
References
- ^ NOAA News Online (Story 777)
- ^ Tornadoes in the Past
- ^ USDA research center severely damaged in tornado. (press release) United States Department of Agriculture, September 25, 2001. Retrieved on 2008-12-22.
- ^ Dresser, Michael; Alec MacGillis (2001-09-25). "Tornado kills two UM students". vagazette.com (The Virginia Gazette). http://www.vagazette.com/bal-te.md.storm25sep25,0,7941310,full.story. Retrieved 10 November 2008.[dead link]
External links
Categories:- F4 tornadoes
- Tornadoes of 2001
- Tornadoes in Maryland
- Tornadoes in Virginia
- Tornadoes in Washington, D.C.
- 2001 natural disasters in the United States
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