Anne Arundel Tornado Details Released After Twister Hits Harwood: NWS

HARWOOD, MD — The National Weather Service confirmed that a tornado hit Harwood on Tuesday.

A press release said the twister touched down at 5:55 p.m. It spun through an open field and lifted at 5:56 p.m.

The tornado tracked a path that was 0.1 miles long and 50 yards wide.

Nobody was hurt.

Officials could not determine the strength of the tornado because there wasn't any damage in the field. The National Weather Service, therefore, rated it an EF-Unknown on the Enhanced Fujita Scale.

The supercell of this storm originally developed along the border of Howard and Montgomery counties. It eventually started to rotate as it moved out of southeastern Montgomery County and into northwestern Prince George's County.

The cell dropped a tornado in Bowie and spawned the separate Harwood twister about 25 minutes later.

Related: Bowie Tornado Witness Says 'Thank God Nobody Was Hurt' When Tree Fell

A broadcast media outlet recorded video and eye-witness evidence of the Harwood tornado. The unidentified outlet watched the scene unfold while they were at the intersection of Birdsville Road and Solomons Island Road. The observer told weather authorities that the twister landed to their north and was on the ground for about a minute.

The National Weather Service radar showed a brief swirling velocity that matched the location of the witness video.

The Bowie tornado had more witnesses and caused more damage.

That twister uprooted trees, snapped powerlines and downed streetlights as winds whipped at 90 mph. Officials classified the Bowie tornado as an EF-1. That is the second weakest category of a twister, and it is identified as one with winds between 86 mph and 110 mph.

Nobody was hurt in Bowie either.

Patch spoke with one witness who watched the tornado topple a 50-foot tree in his yard. To read about the Bowie man's encounter, click here.