A tornado with possible wind speeds of up to 95 mph was confirmed to have touched down in Maryland on Thursday, as severe thunderstorms capable of producing destructive twisters swept across the region and left thousands of homes without power.
The National Weather Service confirmed that a tornado — possibly an EF-1 — hit Howard County about 3:30 p.m. According to a preliminary damage survey, its path was about 5.5 miles with a width of 150 yards.
The NWS said one person was injured. It's unclear how severe the injuries were or how it happened.
Moving through #Alexandria now @nbcwashington @dougkammerer @amelia_draper #severeweather #WeatherAlert pic.twitter.com/WD8EX57VGv
— NBCPhotog (@bforte22) May 30, 2019
One tree fell on the roof of a house, an office building lost part of its roof and numerous large trees were uprooted, the NWS said in its report.
Parts of Anne Arundel and Howard counties in Maryland, and sections of King George, Orange and Spotsylvania counties in Virginia were among the areas that were placed under tornado warnings.
All warnings expired by 8:15 p.m. Active weather alerts can be found here.
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As of 10 p.m., thousands of customers were without power. Dominion Virginia reported 12,465 in Northern Virginia, BG&E reported 1,969 in Howard County and Pepco reported 47.
A cold front passing through Thursday night will bring an end to the rain and drop humidity levels for the weekend.
Friday will be less humid with high temperatures in the low to mid 80s. Friday and Saturday will be sunny with a mix of clouds.
Chance of showers return Sunday afternoon.
CORRECTION (May 30, 2019, 2:37 p.m.): Jefferson County was not under a tornado warning.
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