Maryland tornadoes

Are tornadoes common in Maryland?

Maryland averages about 8.7 tornadoes a year since 2000, 33rd of 52 states and territories by count. The busiest year on record was 2011 (27). Per 10,000 square miles of land, Maryland records 438 tornadoes since 1950, 10th of 51 states and territories by that measure.

1. 1. Florida 701
2. 2. Oklahoma 658
3. 3. Mississippi 614
4. 4. Louisiana 579
5. 5. Illinois 567
6. 6. Kansas 564
7. 7. Iowa 555
8. 8. Alabama 537
9. 9. Indiana 492
10. 10. Maryland 438

Source: NOAA SPC, tornadoes 1950-2025, per 10,000 square miles of land area (Census Bureau 2024 Gazetteer; places under 1,000 square miles not ranked). Damage colours: Storm Events damage, 2025 dollars.

Which counties in Maryland have the most tornadoes?

Per square mile, Calvert County leads Maryland: 17 days with a tornado record since 1950, 79.7 per 1,000 square miles of land. By raw count, Frederick County has the most tornado records (38 since 1950); large counties collect more records simply by covering more ground, so the ranking counts days with a record per unit of area (a storm filed for several forecast zones adds several records but one day).

1. Calvert County 79.7 (19)
2. St. Mary's County 78.1 (34)
3. Howard County 71.7 (20)
4. Charles County 54.6 (28)
5. Anne Arundel County 53.0 (26)
6. Carroll County 51.4 (27)
7. Cecil County 46.2 (18)
8. Frederick County 45.4 (38)
9. Baltimore County 45.1 (32)
10. Montgomery County 44.6 (28)
11. Prince George's County 43.5 (26)
12. Harford County 43.5 (23)

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, days with a record in the county since 1950 per 1,000 square miles of land (Census Bureau 2024 Gazetteer); in brackets, the count of records.

When is tornado season in Maryland?

40% of its tornadoes since 1950 fell in June and July. The busiest month is July (86 tornadoes).

Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center tornado database, state segments by the month they began, 1950-2025.

What were the deadliest tornadoes in Maryland?

Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center tornado database (state segments: deaths and path inside Maryland), 1950-2025; counties are the first four the SPC lists for the segment. SPC severe weather database.

Where have the strongest tornadoes tracked in Maryland?

Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center tornado database, 1950-2025, start and end points of each track; county lines: Census Bureau cartographic boundaries (2017), via us-atlas. SPC severe weather database. Census cartographic boundary files.

The strongest tornadoes in Maryland

Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center tornado database; F scale before February 1, 2007, EF scale after.

The longest tornado paths in Maryland

Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center tornado database, state segments: path length and width inside the state. SPC severe weather database.

Tornadoes in every Maryland county

Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center tornado database: whole tornadoes whose track touched the county (any state segment listing it). SPC severe weather database.

Is Maryland in Tornado Alley?

Tornado Alley has no official boundary; the Storm Prediction Center calls it a media nickname for the central U.S. area of relatively high tornado occurrence. By the record, Maryland ranks 12th of 50 states for tornadoes rated 1 or higher per square mile since 1950 (240 per 10,000 square miles).

Tornado Alley, measured: the states by density and maps of where tornadoes began in two eras.

Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center tornado database and Online Tornado FAQ. SPC's tornado FAQ.

The costliest tornadoes in Maryland

Before 1993 NOAA filed damage by category, not amount, so the list above starts in 1993. The highest category filed here before then (entered as $25M, in the dollars of the day) holds: October 18, 1990 (tornado, Baltimore County).

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database: property and crop damage as estimated by the National Weather Service, in 2025 dollars.

Are tornadoes becoming more frequent in Maryland?

Maryland's count per decade against the whole country's, and its share. The Storm Prediction Center notes that tornado reports rose especially around the installation of the NEXRAD Doppler radar network in the mid-1990s, so a rising count is partly better detection; the share of the national total is the fairer comparison across decades.

Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center tornado database, state segments.

The most recent tornadoes in Maryland

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, records through June 30, 2026; the newest months are revised by NCEI as reports arrive. Search the record at NCEI.

Federal disaster declarations for tornadoes in Maryland

FEMA has declared 3 disasters in Maryland for tornadoes, counting its incident type and declarations that name tornado in the title (FEMA files most storm disasters under Severe Storm); 3 were major disasters, the latest on July 2, 2006.

Source: FEMA OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries (v2), through October 2, 2026. OpenFEMA dataset page.

Next

• Calvert County: the county's whole recordThe Maryland county with the most tornadoes per square mile
• Tornadoes across the United StatesEvery state ranked, by year and month
• Every natural hazard in MarylandTornadoes, floods, storms, heat and the federal declarations
• Severe thunderstorm wind in Maryland8,467 records
• Winter storms in Maryland4,573 records
• Floods in Maryland3,545 records