Severe thunderstorms hit the Baltimore area Saturday night, uprooting trees and blocking 184 roads in the city, the mayor said Brandon Scott wrote on social media platform X at 7:35 PM
“We are actively monitoring the storm and have crews ready to clear roads once lightning has left the area,” he wrote. “Stay off the roads if possible and report downed trees and outages to 311.”
Social media posts from reporters at WMAR and WBAL showed large trees and debris blocking roads in Hampden, Roland Park and other North Baltimore neighborhoods. The storm prompted the Baltimore Office of Promotion and the Arts to cancel Artscape’s Saturday headline act, percussionist and drummer Sheila E., after another storm on Friday canceled that day’s headline performance by Chaka Khan.
The storms left 43,801 BGE customers out of power in central Maryland, the company said in an email just after 9 p.m. The hardest-hit areas were Baltimore and Baltimore County, but damage was reported throughout the region. Crews had restored power to about 7,000 customers as of 9 p.m.
“Widespread storm damage includes tree debris, downed trees and downed wires,” the email said. “BGE crews and contractors are working to restore power to customers as quickly and safely as possible.”
According to the National Weather Service, showers and thunderstorms will remain possible for the rest of Saturday evening, especially before 11 p.m. The storms are expected to return before 8 a.m. Sunday, and after 11 a.m. Sunday night, it is expected to be mostly clear with a low of around 70 degrees Fahrenheit and calm winds.
