Tornado Hits La Plata, Maryland

Powerful thunderstorms swept through the mid-Atlantic states on April 28, spawning an F4 intensity tornado that ripped through La Plata, Maryland, destroying much of its historic downtown and claiming at least three lives.

Evening light catches the tops of towering thunderheads over the Mid-Atlantic states on April 28, 2002. The powerful storms spawned several tornados, one of which was classified as an F4 tornado. The powerful tornado touched down in the southern Maryland town of La Plata, destroying most of the historic downtown. The twister?one of the strongest ever to hit the state?beat a 24-mile swath running west to east through the state and claimed at least three lives.

The image above was taken by the Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES) at 7:15 PM Eastern Daylight Savings Time. A large version of the animation shows more detail. (5.9 MB Quicktime)

Metadata

  • Sensor

    GOES/GOES
  • Start Date

    2002-04-28
  • Event Start Date

    2002-04-28
  • NH Image ID

    3612
  • NH Event ID

    3612
  • NH Posting Date

    2002-05-01