April 27-28, 2011 Severe Weather



...EF-0 TORNADO CONFIRMED IN FRIENDLY MARYLAND...

LOCATION...1 MI SOUTHEAST OF FRIENDLY IN PRINCE GEORGES COUNTY MD 
DATE...APRIL 27 2011
ESTIMATED TIME...7:06 PM TO 7:07 PM EDT
MAXIMUM EF-SCALE RATING...EF-0
MAXIMUM WIND SPEED...70 MPH 
MAXIMUM PATH WIDTH...75 YARDS 
LENGTH...0.4 MILES 
BEGINNING LAT/LON...38.746N / 76.959W
ENDING LAT/LON...38.750N / 76.954W
* FATALITIES...NONE
* INJURIES...NONE

* THE INFORMATION IN THIS STATEMENT IS PRELIMINARY AND SUBJECT TO 
CHANGE PENDING FINAL REVIEW OF THE EVENT/S/ AND PUBLICATION IN NWS 
STORM DATA.

...SUMMARY...

A BRIEF TORNADO OCCURRED AT POTOMAC AIRFIELD. SIX GENERAL AVIATION 
AIRCRAFT SUFFERED MINOR TO MAJOR DAMAGE. A CESSNA 182 HAD ITS TIE 
DOWN LINES SNAPPED AND THEN WAS TOSSED 120 FEET NORTHEAST ACROSS A 
TAXIWAY. A CESSNA 172 WAS LIFTED UP AND SMASHED NOSE FIRST INTO THE 
GROUND. A CESSNA 335 SKYMASTER WAS TOSSED ABOUT 25 FEET AND SMASHED 
ALONG THE GROUND. ALL THREE PLANES WERE DAMAGED EXTENSIVELY EVEN 
THOUGH ALL WERE SECURELY TIED DOWN. SEVERAL OTHER AIRCRAFT WERE 
MOVED AROUND BUT STAYED TIED DOWN AND SUFFERED LITTLE OR NO DAMAGE. 
THE TORNADO TRACKED CLOSE TO THE LONE AIRPORT RUNWAY 06-24. NO TREE 
DAMAGE WAS NOTED ON AIRPORT PROPERTY...AND NO DAMAGE OCCURRED TO 
NEARBY AIRPORT STRUCTURES...SOME OF WHICH WERE 100 FEET AWAY FROM 
THE DAMAGED AIRCRAFT. BASED ON EXAMINATION OF MULTIPLE RADAR DATA... 
PHOTOGRAPHIC EVIDENCE AND A POST-STORM SURVEY BY THE AIRPORT 
MANAGER...THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS CLASSIFIED THIS AS A 
TORNADO AND RATED IT AS EF-0. MAX WINDS WERE ESTIMATED AT 70 MPH 
WITH A WIDTH OF 75 YARDS AND PATH LENGTH OF 0.4 MILES. START AND END 
TIMES WERE BASED UPON RADAR DATA AND ARE CONSISTENT WITH SPOTTER 
REPORTED TIMES OF FUNNEL CLOUDS IN THE AREA.