Storms Packing 60 To 80 MPH Winds Swept Through VA Monday Causing Power Outages

Updated at 11 p.m. Monday

VIRGINIA — As strong thunderstorms rumbled through the Washington, D.C., region Monday, heavy rain and gusty winds knocked out power to more than 40,000 utility customers.

At 11 p.m., the PowerOutage.US site said 41,542 utility customers were without power across Virginia. The most outages were in Fairfax County with about 13,829; followed by 2,744 outages in Loudoun County, 8,903 in Fauquier County, and 3,485 outages in Prince William County.

Arlington, Fairfax City and counties to the south of Fauquier all reported power outages that totaled between 2,000 and 200 customers.

A tornado watch was issued for Northern Virginia and the Washington metropolitan region, according to the National Weather Service. The watch was in effect until 9 p.m. Fifteen counties were included in the watch with heavy winds — possibly reaching 80 miles per hour, the speed of a category 1 hurricane — predicted.

The National Weather Service's Sterling office let a severe thunderstorm warning expire at 6:45 p.m. for parts of Arlington, Loudoun, Fairfax, Stafford, Fauquier and Prince William counties, and the cities of Alexandria, Falls Church, and Fairfax. The warning was originally going to expire at 5:15 p.m.

Areas affected by the thunderstorm warning include Arlington, Alexandria, Dale City, Annandale, Springfield, Fairfax, Langley Park, Fort Hunt, Vienna, Groveton, Forestville, Falls Church and Huntington.

• Related: 69K Without Power In VA: Power Outage Tips

The watch encompasses these localities in Northern Virginia:

• Arlington County
• City of Alexandria
• City of Fairfax
• City of Falls Church
• City of Manassas
• City of Manassas Park
• Culpeper County
• Fairfax County
• Fauquier County
• Loudoun County
• Prince William County
• Stafford County
• Fredericksburg

"A very dangerously powerful storm system is moving through this Monday afternoon and into Monday night. Everybody needs to be aware of this, because this is not the normal storm situation that we have," said Chris Strong, of NWS' Baltimore-Washington forecast office.

The main portion of the storm will be moving through the west of the Blue Ridge and Catoctin mountains, northwestern Virginia and western Maryland, according to Strong. The storm will progress in an easterly direction, sweeping through the Baltimore and Washington metro areas, Charlottesville and Fredericksburg between 4 p.m. and 8 p.m.

"We want you to have yourself in a place of safety when these storms come through," Strong said. "To the best of your ability, monitor the warnings that come out of the National Weather Service, and either be in a safe place ahead of time or certainly ready to get to a safe place when the storms come through."

Heavy winds — possibly reaching 80 miles per hour, the speed of a category 1 hurricane — are expected to be under the threat of numerous strong to severe thunderstorms from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. on Monday, according to the NWS.

"There is a significant threat for damaging and locally destructive hurricane-force winds, along with the potential for large hail and tornadoes, even strong tornadoes, the weather service said when it issued the tornado watch.

WHAT TO DO: Fairfax County Tornado Preparedness

National Weather Services issued a tornado warning until 4:30 p.m., for Staunton, Stuarts Draft and Fishersville in western Virginia.

With the extreme weather forecast, Arlington County announced its government operations will shift to virtual at 4 p.m. In-person facilities and programming, including Arlington Public Library branches, will close at 4 p.m.

Ahead of the severe storms, the Office of Personnel Management said it will close federal offices at 3 p.m. Monday. “Employees should depart 2 hours earlier than their normal departure time and may request Unscheduled Leave to depart prior to their staggered departure time,” OPM said on its website. “All employees Must Depart no later than 3:00 at which time Federal offices are Closed.”

Fairfax County Government is continuing to operate on a normal schedule, although some of its programs and locations may be affected by the storm. The county released the following guidance:

FOR RESIDENTS: Information and services are available online at any time.

FOR EMPLOYEES: Employees who are eligible to telework (fixed schedule or occasional) are expected to work or use personal leave when unscheduled or administrative leave is called and should maintain their regular schedule to the extent possible. Contact your supervisor regarding any schedule changes. Emergency personnel should report as scheduled.

Here a some of the closures that have been reported due to Monday afternoon's inclement weather:

• All Northern Virginia Community College campuses and buildings closed at 3 p.m., and will remain closed until tomorrow. All classes and activities are cancelled.
• All George Mason University buildings will close at 4 p.m.
• Reston Association follows OPM guidance related to inclement weather, so all RA facilities closed at 3 p.m. "RA staff are communicating with individual program participants, including summer camps. If you are enrolled in a program, you will receive a separate message from your program supervisor," according to an RA alert.
• In the City of Fairfax, the Green Acres Center will close at 4 p.m., when all the programs will end and all facilities will close. The Sherwood Center will also close at 4 p.m. Monday night's Highland dance and martial arts programs will be rescheduled, according to an alert from the city.

As the storms get closer, all hazards are possible with widespread damaging winds as the primary threat. Some of these winds may become locally destructive in nature. Additionally, large hail and a few tornadoes are also possible, according to the NWS forecast.

Virginians should monitor TV, radio and their phones this afternoon and into the evening for the latest forecast and alerts about severe weather developing, and sign up for weather alerts.

East of the Blue Ridge mountains, Virginians can expect the high temperature on Monday to push into the upper 80s and lower 90s, with the heat indices in the 100 to 105 degree range, according to NWS.

Showers are expected into the evening hours on Monday, with the possibility of a thunderstorm developing after 5 p.m., according to the NWS. This could bring heavy rain and damaging winds across the region. Rainfall amounts of a quarter and a half of inch are possible.

Winds of 9 to 14 mph from the sought are expected across in Northern Virginia, with some gusts as high as 23 miles per hour.

"Multiple ingredients are in place today for numerous strong to severe thunderstorms, some of which could contain damaging winds, hail and flooding,"according to the Capital Weather Gang's forecast for Monday. "It’s even possible that tornadoes develop somewhere in the region."

The Capital Weather Gang's forecast sees the weather becoming more tranquil through midweek, with a higher humidity and a chance of showers reappearing on Thursday.

The following is the six-day forecast for Northern Virginia from the National Weather Service.

Tuesday
Partly sunny, with a high near 84. Breezy, with a west wind 13 to 20 mph, with gusts as high as 29 mph.

Tuesday Night
Partly cloudy, with a low around 67. West wind 6 to 13 mph, with gusts as high as 20 mph.

Wednesday
Sunny, with a high near 87. West wind 8 to 14 mph, with gusts as high as 20 mph.

Wednesday Night
Partly cloudy, with a low around 68.

Thursday
A chance of showers, with thunderstorms also possible after 2pm. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 85. Chance of precipitation is 50%.

Thursday Night
A chance of showers and thunderstorms before 2am. Partly cloudy, with a low around 68. Chance of precipitation is 30%.

Friday
Mostly sunny, with a high near 87.

Friday Night
Partly cloudy, with a low around 70.

Saturday
Mostly sunny, with a high near 90.

Saturday Night
Partly cloudy, with a low around 69.

Sunday
Mostly sunny, with a high near 87.