National Weather Service Confirms EF-1 Tornado Travelled Through St. Mary’s and Charles County on Friday, May 27, 2022

May 29, 2022

5/28/2022 St. Mary's County EF1 Tornado


The National Weather Service has confirmed an EF-1 Tornado travelled 4.16 miles through Charlotte Hall, MD, and Benedict, MD.

A damage survey for 05/27/2022 tornado in Charlotte Hall, MD.

  • Rating: EF-1
  • Estimated peak wind: 90 mph
  • Path length /statute/: 4.16 miles
  • Path width /maximum/: 100 yards
  • Fatalities: 0
  • Injuries: 0

Start date: Friday, May, 27 2022
Start time: 8:32 p.m est.
Start location: Charlotte Hall, MD
Start lat/lon: 38.49571, -76.78203

End date: Friday, May 27 2022
End time: 8:41 p.m est.
End location: Benedict, MD
End lat/lon: 38.52034, -76.71213

An EF-1 tornado with winds estimated at 90 mph touched down near the St. Mary’s and Charles county line around Route 5 and Route 231.

The tornado damage path started along Bach Drive, where a few trees were down and one tree was snapped about midway up. The Tornado tracked across Charlotte Hall and MD Route 5 where damage was sporadic with a few trees down.

Damage became more concentrated around Mount Wolf Road, particularly around White Drive. Approximately one to two dozen trees were uprooted along White Drive along with a few trees being snapped. Large tree branches fell onto a house along white drive causing damage to the siding along with broken windows. However, no other structural damage was noted in this area.

Winds were estimated to be around 90 mph across this area due to the uprooted large trees along with some large trees being snapped. Most of the tree damage was facing southwest to northeast, but there were a few trees were facing west to east. The tornado continued to track northeast, causing tree damage along Chappelear Drive around Mount Wolf Road.

Damage was more sporadic across this area, but a large softwood tree was uprooted and a tree fell onto a house. Witness statements along with the survey noted that most of the damage on Chappelear Drive was around two or three houses. Most of the trees were facing south to north, which when compared to the location of the damage along White Road, this shows a counterclockwise rotation.

Damage to the north and east was sporadic, but there were several areas that could not be accessed to survey. Farther northeast, there were several large branches down along Prince Frederick road between Barney Drive and Colonial Drive. This coincided with the circulation that was on radar.

Finally, there was a small tree branch down along Barney Drive and very little damage was noticed to the northeast.

EF scale: the enhanced fujita scale classifies tornadoes into the following categories:

EF-0. 65 to 85 mph

EF-1. 86 to 110 mph

EF-2. 111 to 135 mph

EF-3. 136 to 165 mph

EF-4. 166 to 200 mph

EF-5 >200 mph


5/28/2022 St. Mary's County EF1 Tornado