Meteorologists point to possible tornado, waterspout near Fort McHenry

A severe thunderstorm complex that rolled through the Baltimore region Monday may have spawned a brief tornado or waterspout near Fort McHenry, according to meteorologists and eyewitness accounts, though the National Weather Service had not confirmed a touchdown as of Tuesday afternoon.

WBAL-TV meteorologist Tony Pann posted a photo he attributed to longtime weather photographer Jim Schuyler that he said appeared to show a tornado near the historic fort as storms moved through the area Monday, along with a visible wall cloud. Mr. Pann said the station had shown the same wall cloud live on air during its Monday storm coverage, as two tornado warnings were in effect simultaneously for the Baltimore area.

Meteorologist Justin Berk, in a separate post, described the system as a mesoscale convective complex that produced severe weather across Maryland and the surrounding region Monday. Mr. Berk cited two firsthand accounts. Derek Eckhardt of the Maryland State Police Aviation Command, whom Mr. Berk identified as a trained storm spotter, said he pulled over on Interstate 95 near the Baltimore City-Dundalk line after spotting what he believed was rotating dirt and dust beneath a tight, rotating cloud base, though a visible funnel never fully formed, according to Mr. Berk’s account.

Mr. Schuyler, observing from the World Trade Center building at the Inner Harbor, told Mr. Berk he believed a waterspout over the Patapsco River near Fort McHenry made landfall as a brief tornado near the Dundalk Marine Terminal — an account Mr. Berk relayed but which has not been independently confirmed.

The National Weather Service had not confirmed a tornado near Fort McHenry as of Tuesday afternoon. The agency can use radar data, eyewitness reports and, when warranted, damage surveys to determine whether a tornado occurred and estimate its path and intensity.