Tornado likely touched down on Eastern Shore during Thursday storms, weather service says

A tornado is believed to have touched down in Queen Anne’s County on Maryland’s Eastern Shore on Thursday evening, while the Baltimore-Washington area was apparently spared serious damage from storms that passed through the region.

Brendon Rubin-Oster, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service, said radar indicated that a tornado touched down in Queen Anne’s County shortly between 5:46 and 5:53 p.m.

He said the tornado cannot be confirmed until crews do a survey and assess any damage Friday.

A tornado also hit Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, Rubin-Oster said.

The storms’ impact was also felt further up the East Coast.

Heavy rain and winds pounded the Northeast on Thursday as storms tore through a beach on Long Island, flooded a major New York freeway and knocked out power in parts of Delaware’s capital city.

A likely tornado touched down in Dover, Delaware, and caused significant damage across the city, the police department reported.

“Dover — please take this seriously. Stay home. Stay safe,” the department said on Facebook.

Photos and video online show fallen trees, downed power lines and flooded roads.

The Delaware Electric Cooperative said more than 1,000 people didn’t have power in the northern part of its service area.

There were flash flood warnings in parts of eastern Pennsylvania and New Jersey, the weather service said.

Thunderstorms passed through the Baltimore area on Thursday afternoon, but by early evening the sun was out at the Inner Harbor and the Orioles’ home game against the New York Yankees was underway after a brief delay.

The National Weather Service initially placed much of Maryland under a severe thunderstorm watch and tornado watch until 10 p.m. Thursday.

But weather service officials canceled the watches for the Baltimore and Capital regions around 5:50 p.m. Thursday. Tornado watches continued into Thursday night on the Eastern Shore.

Showers were still likely throughout the evening, but nothing threatening, said Erik Taylor, an NWS meteorologist.

Threatening weather still affected parts of the region. The Federal Aviation Administration issued a ground stop at Baltimore-Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport until 7 p.m. due to thunderstorms.

Baltimore region

• Friday: Mostly sunny with highs around 90. A chance of showers and thunderstorms in the evening, with lows in the lower 70s. The chance of precipitation is 50%.

Source: National Weather Service

Capital region

• Friday: Mostly sunny with highs around 80 and lows in the upper 60s. A 30% chance of showers in the afternoon and a 70% chance of rain in the evening.

Source: National Weather Service

The weekend could be just as rainy on Saturday, with a chance of thunderstorms in the evening, said Luis Rosa, a meteorologist for the weather service’s Baltimore/Washington office. Conditions will dry up starting on Sunday, he said.

Banner staff writer Norman Gomlak and the Associated Press contributed to this report.