june 1st 2012 tonrado outbreak

On June 1st, 1012, a significant tornado outbreak occurred across the Mid-Atlantic with 11 tornadoes touching down in central Maryland alone. This was due to a highly favorable atmosphere in place, which prompted SPC to issue a rare moderate risk (level 4/5)  of severe weather. Below you can see a map of all the tornadoes in our area from this day. Outlined in green were rated EF0, while those outlined in blue were rated EF1.

Wind shear was running around 50kts, with 0-1km SRH (Storm Relative Helicity) in excess of 290 m2/s2. This meant that any thunderstorm that tapped into that wind shear would have a strong likelihood of rotating and producing a tornado. Lapse rates were fairly week, but there was a decent amount of CAPE for storms to work with which led to fairly quick development during the afternoon. Given these favorable conditions, numerous supercells with tornadoes developed across our region. The image below is a sounding from that day from NWS Sterling. It shows a very favorable wind profile for tornadoes, which we don't see very often around here. ​

TORNADO LIST BY COUNTY:
MONTGOMERY:

• Poolesville- EF0 70mph
• Damascus #1- EF0 70mph
• Damascus #2- EF0 75mph

HOWARD:

• South Columbia- EF0 85mph

CARROLL:

• Mount Airy #1- EF0 75mph
• Mount Airy #2- EF1 100mph
• NW of Finksburg- EF1 90mph

PRINCE GEORGES:

• Springdale- EF0 65mph

ANNE ARUNDEL:

• S of Fort Meade- EF0 65mph
• Fort Meade to BWI- EF0 80mph

HARFORD:

• Fallston- EF1 100mph

Photo credit 1: tornadoarchive.com
Photo credit 2: NWS Sterling
Special thanks to Jen Narramore of Tornado Talk for help on finding wind speeds for these tornadoes!