UPDATE: Tuesday – 7/2/2013, 4:00pm ET
WASHINGTON – The National Weather Service has confirmed that a weak tornado touched down in Prince George’s County Monday.
The tornado touched down in an area south of Clinton and west of Brandywine about 7:33 p.m. and reached a maximum wind speed of 60 mph. The relatively slow winds earned the tornado a an EF-0 rating, the least severe category.
The twister traveled approximately 2.3 miles and was about 75 yards wide. It broke large tree limbs and twisted and snapped trees high up among the tree canopy.
Only minor structural damage was reported.
EARLIER: Monday – 7/1/2013, 11:30pm ET
WASHINGTON – A fat funnel cloud was spotted in the Brandywine area Monday evening but a quick storm that blew through Prince George’s County caused little to no damage.
The National Weather Service issued a tornado warning for the county about 7:30 p.m., about the time members of the Brandywine Volunteer Fire Department spotted the cloud just outside their station.
Firefighter Brian Clements tells WTOP that he and several other firefighters hopped in a pickup truck and chased the storm for about 15 minutes until it broke apart over the Clinton area.
“We all walked outside and saw a strong, rotating funnel cloud about three miles west of our firehouse on Brandywine Road,” Clements says.
He says they searched the area for possible damage and found none.
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Gabrielle Henwood took this photo of a funnel cloud in Brandywine about 7:40 p.m. Monday. (Courtesy Gabrielle Henwood)
WTOP’s Michelle Basch contributed to this report. Follow @mbaschwtop and @WTOP on Twitter.
