DC weather history for September 24: College Park Tornado of 2001

On this day in 2001, one of the most destructive tornadoes in modern Maryland history tore through College Park, killing two University of Maryland students, injuring 57 people and leaving a trail of devastation across Prince George’s County. The tornado, rated an F3 on the Fujita scale with winds estimated near 150 mph, was part of a widespread and dangerous severe weather outbreak that spawned numerous tornadoes across the DC region.

The long-lived rotating thunderstorm, or supercell, responsible for the College Park twister first produced a twister near Quantico, Virginia. Another tornado then touched down in Northern Virginia, carving a damaging path from Springfield to Alexandria and southeast Arlington. Several additional tornadoes were reported that day in Central and Northern Virginia before the supercell crossed the Potomac River and intensified further over Maryland.

The most severe damage occurred shortly after 5 p.m. when the tornado ripped through College Park and nearby communities. According to Washington Post coverage, students described hearing what sounded like a freight train moments before roofs were torn from apartment buildings and homes. Entire walls collapsed, cars were tossed and shattered trees and debris littered roads and sidewalks across the university area.

The two students killed were inside an apartment building near the University of Maryland campus that partially collapsed under the force of the winds. Thousands of residents lost power as utility poles and power lines were snapped. Damage extended northeast through Beltsville and Laurel, where homes and businesses also suffered major destruction.

The tornado struck during the height of afternoon traffic and caught many people off guard. In the aftermath, emergency crews conducted frantic searches through damaged buildings while stunned residents wandered through neighborhoods transformed into scenes of wreckage.

An additional intense tornado slammed parts of Culpepper and Fauquier counties that same day.

For more on this event, see these articles and a video:

And on this day in 2010, the temperature soared to 99 degrees, the highest temperature ever observed so late in the year. It was day three of a four-day stretch of 90-plus highs, and marked the city’s 66th 90-degree day of the year. One day later, when it hit 93 on Sept. 25, the total climbed to 67 — tying 1980 for the most on record.

Here are other notables from this date: