Tornado Risk in Montgomery County, MD
Montgomery County, MD: what NOAA's tornado record says
26 tornado tracks have crossed Montgomery County since 1952 by NOAA's count, roughly one every 2.9 years - the Elevated band on this site's scale. That is the 63rd percentile nationally for tornado frequency. Among 24 Maryland counties in this dataset, Montgomery County ranks 7 for how often a tornado touches down.
The number that matters more than frequency
No violent (EF4-5) tornado has been recorded in Montgomery County in NOAA's 76-year database. Of its 26 recorded tracks, 26 were weak (EF0-1) and 0 significant (EF2-3).
Shelter and safe-room economics
Maryland does not currently have a confirmed state rebate layered on top of FEMA's 75% Hazard Mitigation cost-share, so a Montgomery County homeowner should expect the full national range: $2,890-$13,280, $7,645 typical.
Power after the storm, not just shelter during it
The storm that misses Montgomery County outright can still take its power out - outbreak-scale outages across Maryland are common well beyond the tracked path. A battery-backup unit handles that without a generator's setup or fuel.
What Montgomery County's figure does not tell you
Montgomery County's figure is county-wide, not address-specific. Montgomery County covers about 493 square miles, so a single touch here counts the same as a single touch in a county a fraction of that size. NOAA also documents that older records undercount weaker tornadoes from before Doppler radar became standard. Montgomery County has about 1,082,273 residents.