EF-0 Tornado Confirmed In Columbia Thursday Evening
COLUMBIA, Md. (WJZ) -- The National Weather Service confirmed Friday that an EF-0 tornado struck Columbia Thursday evening.
NWS staff surveyed damage in Columbia MD that was confirmed as a brief EF-0 tornado, as well as significant storm damage in Fredericksburg VA. The preliminary storm survey report for both is here: https://t.co/bVW0ZLic3K. pic.twitter.com/UK7UJstop2
— NWS Baltimore-Washington (@NWS_BaltWash) July 30, 2021
The tornado touched down at the Snowden Square mall at 5:07 p.m. and traveled a quarter-mile before it dissipated one minute later. Wind gusts peaked at around 70 mph.
EF-0 tornado hit Columbia yesterday causing store damage; ???? Howard Co Fire @wjz pic.twitter.com/e7HkWeXnvo
— Mike Hellgren (@HellgrenWJZ) July 30, 2021
Investigators found two ornamental trees snapped at their base in front of the Goodwill there. The tornado tore off a section of wall facade at BJ's Warehouse. The affected wall was on the opposite side from the direction in which the tornado was moving.
An employee at the store's tire center said nearby shopping carts were lifted into the air then blown to the north. Two more mid-sized trees were damaged at the end of Snowden Square Drive. Large branches were snapped off and thrown in multiple directions.