Tornado

A waterspout zipped across Baltimore harbor Monday afternoon, tossing pieces of a warehouse roof into the air, and at least one other tornado was reported in the area as storms brought heavy downpours and flooding. In Fells Point, cars sat in standing water and sandbags were placed at doors to prevent water from entering businesses. In the Inner Harbor, 1.74 inches of rain had fallen by 5 p.m. - all but a half-inch of it in the span of an hour before 4 p.m. Steve Fogleman, a Glen Burnie attorney and chairman of the Baltimore liquor board, was driving north on Interstate 95 just south of the Fort McHenry tunnel a little before 4 p.m. when he noticed a rotating cloud and something whipping through the air near Silo Point.

Ty Whittaker was sitting on his couch, perusing the Internet on his iPad last month when he saw the horrifying news: an EF5 tornado had ravaged Moore, Okla., and the surrounding area. Whittaker, an assistant coach for the Team Maryland, and his players were supposed to stay in the area during the all-star baseball team's upcoming trip for the Heartland Classic tournament from June 18-22. He immediately contacted host families in the devastated area and learned that all of the families' houses were safe.

The National Weather Service has confirmed at least three tornadoes touched down in Maryland on Monday - in the Fork area of Baltimore County, Locust Point in South Baltimore and Coltons Point in St. Mary's County. All three were placed in the weakest category on the enhanced Fujita scale, rated EF-0 tornadoes with maximum wind speeds ranging from 65 mph to 80 mph. The weather service surveyed possible tornado damage in five areas of Maryland on Tuesday - in addition to the three confirmed tornadoes, others were reported in the Woodbine area of Howard County and between Waldorf and La Plata in Charles County.

A lightning strike injured a Cecil County zookeeper, half-dollar-sized hail fell in several counties and tornado sightings sent people scurrying for shelter from Rockville to Baltimore-Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport. Yet the worst fears of weather forecasters didn't materialize Thursday. The National Weather Service's Storm Prediction Center called the first of two systems that darkened skies and dumped rain Thursday a "low-end" derecho, known for powerful winds that travel in a straight line over hundreds of miles.

Forecasters are watching an expected outbreak of severe weather from Illinois to Maryland that some are likening to last June's derecho; one meteorologist predicted it would be a "multi billion dollar storm" causing massive power outages. Storms were developing in Illinois and Wisconsin early Wednesday evening, bringing tornado threats from there through Indiana and into Ohio. Meteorologists say conditions could be conducive for those storms to strengthen into a massive squall line packing up to 70 mph winds, large hail and heavy rain.

A lightning strike injured a Cecil County zookeeper, half-dollar-sized hail fell in several counties and tornado sightings sent people scurrying for shelter from Rockville to Baltimore-Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport. Yet the worst fears of weather forecasters didn't materialize Thursday. The National Weather Service's Storm Prediction Center called the first of two systems that darkened skies and dumped rain Thursday a "low-end" derecho, known for powerful winds that travel in a straight line over hundreds of miles.

Ty Whittaker was sitting on his couch, perusing the Internet on his iPad last month when he saw the horrifying news: an EF5 tornado had ravaged Moore, Okla., and the surrounding area. Whittaker, an assistant coach for the Team Maryland, and his players were supposed to stay in the area during the all-star baseball team's upcoming trip for the Heartland Classic tournament from June 18-22. He immediately contacted host families in the devastated area and learned that all of the families' houses were safe.

Severe storms with a history of damaging winds and a confirmed tornado sighting moved through Maryland on Thursday afternoon, potentially the second outbreak of tornadoes in four days for the state. The Storm Prediction Center meanwhile confirmed that morning storms that blew through the region could be classified as a "low-end derecho". Local emergency officials confirmed a tornado on the ground near Olney in Montgomery County about 4 p.m., and minutes later near Columbia, according to the weather service.

A decade ago tomorrow, the worst tornado in Maryland history struck La Plata, killing three people and flattening buildings with 261 mph winds. The F5 twister, the top of the scale for tornado intensity, left a plate of fried chicken on the counter of a fast-food restaurant but tore off two of the building's walls and its roof, according to one Baltimore Sun report. It left one resident's mailbox standing, waiting for more mail in front of a house that was torn from its foundation, resting on some bushes.

A tornado touched down in the Largo area of Prince George's County during storms that passed through the region Friday, the National Weather Service confirmed Monday. Meteorologists had previously confirmed another tornado in Northern Virginia. The Largo tornado touched down at 7:26 p.m. in the Marlboro Ridge neighborhood, uprooting trees, blowing out windows and garage doors and walls. The tornado traveled about half a mile, lasting less than a minute, according to the weather service.

Severe storms with a history of damaging winds and a confirmed tornado sighting moved through Maryland on Thursday afternoon, potentially the second outbreak of tornadoes in four days for the state. The Storm Prediction Center meanwhile confirmed that morning storms that blew through the region could be classified as a "low-end derecho". Local emergency officials confirmed a tornado on the ground near Olney in Montgomery County about 4 p.m., and minutes later near Columbia, according to the weather service.

The National Weather Service has confirmed at least three tornadoes touched down in Maryland on Monday - in the Fork area of Baltimore County, Locust Point in South Baltimore and Coltons Point in St. Mary's County. All three were placed in the weakest category on the enhanced Fujita scale, rated EF-0 tornadoes with maximum wind speeds ranging from 65 mph to 80 mph. The weather service surveyed possible tornado damage in five areas of Maryland on Tuesday - in addition to the three confirmed tornadoes, others were reported in the Woodbine area of Howard County and between Waldorf and La Plata in Charles County.

A waterspout zipped across Baltimore harbor Monday afternoon, tossing pieces of a warehouse roof into the air, and at least one other tornado was reported in the area as storms brought heavy downpours and flooding. In Fells Point, cars sat in standing water and sandbags were placed at doors to prevent water from entering businesses. In the Inner Harbor, 1.74 inches of rain had fallen by 5 p.m. - all but a half-inch of it in the span of an hour before 4 p.m. Steve Fogleman, a Glen Burnie attorney and chairman of the Baltimore liquor board, was driving north on Interstate 95 just south of the Fort McHenry tunnel a little before 4 p.m. when he noticed a rotating cloud and something whipping through the air near Silo Point.

Soon after a massive tornado devastated Moore, Okla., last month, a Linthicum seamstress leaped into action, formulating a plan to help the victims. Kathy Furth began reaching out to thread-savvy friends from her parish and a local sewing organization to gauge interest. She asked them: Do you want to join forces to make clothes for children who lost everything in the disaster? The positive responses to her inquiries were overwhelming, she said. "It just spread like crazy," said Furth, owner of Sew Many Seams, a business that specializes in creating one-of-a-kind liturgical vestments.

I ask the tea party, as it campaigns for extreme cuts in government services, would it cut the National Weather Service? If it had been cut, who would have let the people in Oklahoma know that they needed to get into shelters to be safe from tornadoes? How many more would have died if they had not been warned? Throughout the country, funds are being cut from the budgets of first responders. In Oklahoma, New Jersey and other areas just this year ravaged by storms, budgets are being cut. Who would save our children, our people, if not for the first responders?

A tornado of epic proportions hit Oklahoma, which claims to have the finest weather forecasting in the nation specifically because of the tornado threat ("Tornado in Oklahoma leaves dozens dead," May 21). These forecasters note when tornadoes are imminent and attempt to save lives through warning. The day after the first tornado hit, and when all the conditions for more tornadoes remained a danger, the children were sent to school like always. Compare this to how Maryland shuts down the state merely on the rumor of snow.

Storms with winds reported at or near 80 mph blew through the area between 1:30 and 2 a.m. causing damage and electricity outages. WBAL-TV was reporting that the National Weather Service was working to confirm reports of a possible tornado in the 2200 block of Fleetwood Ave.

COLLEGE PARK - A tornado blazed a 10-mile-long path of destruction through Central Maryland at rush hour yesterday afternoon, killing two Howard County sisters and injuring dozens of people while ripping the roofs off buildings and flinging cars through the air. The storm - whose winds were clocked as high as 206 mph - touched down in College Park at about 5:20 p.m. and tore north into Beltsville, Laurel and Savage, flipping trucks off of roads, shredding...

Amazon's hosting service has been approved for government use, a formerly obscure math lecturer has received hard-won praise for an incredible accomplishment, and Oklahoma City is working to dig out from a devastating tornado. Welcome to your online trends report for Tuesday, May 21, 2013. The massive tornado that hit the Oklahoma City region yesterday is believed to have killed at least 51 people, as of this writing. That number is expected to rise as more victims are dug out of the rubble.

What causes tornadoes? In Tornado Alley, where a tornado killed at least 24 people in Moore, Okla., Monday, the disasters are relatively frequent when moist air from the Gulf of Mexico meets dry, cool air from the Rocky Mountains. Instability caused by such differences in air temperatures fuels even common thunderstorms. But in the case of the Moore tornado, the severity was increased because of a particularly strong blast of cool air from the jet stream mixing with warm Gulf air that built up over the weekend, explained AccuWeather.com's Henry Margusity . The moist air moves in low to the ground, without any geographic obstructions over the flat Midwest.