Weather

UPDATED: Trees, Power Lines Down After Line of Strong Winds

ARLnow.com

Update at 11:45 p.m. — Outages in Arlington are down to about 600 customers, according to Dominion.

Update at 5:55 p.m. — Dominion reported approximately 48,000 customers without power in Northern Virginia, including nearly 6,300 in Arlington, as of 5:30 p.m., though those numbers are starting to come down slightly.

There are large reported outages in the Shirlington, Fairlington, Green Valley and East Falls Church areas. There are reports of trees that fell into buildings, including houses and a garden apartment building.

Update at 5:10 p.m. — There are multiple reports of trees and wires down around Arlington after 50-65 mile per hour wind gusts swept through the county. Power is reported out in several neighborhoods and a tree is reportedly blocking a portion of N. Glebe Road near N. Pershing Drive.

As a result of a high volume of calls, the fire department has temporarily reduced its standard response to certain types of alarms, according to scanner traffic.

Earlier: Arlington is under a Severe Thunderstorm Warning as a “wall of wind” arrives from the west.

On an already breezy day — amid a High Wind Warning — the storm front could cause power outages and fell trees.

From the National Weather Service:

BULLETIN – IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
Severe Thunderstorm Warning
National Weather Service Baltimore MD/Washington DC
439 PM EDT Fri Apr 30 2021

The National Weather Service in Sterling Virginia has issued a

* Severe Thunderstorm Warning…

* Until 515 PM EDT.

* At 438 PM EDT, severe thunderstorms were located along a line extending from Montgomery Village to near Chantilly to Warrenton, moving east at 65 mph.

HAZARD…60 mph wind gusts.

SOURCE…Radar indicated.

IMPACT…Damaging winds will cause some trees and large branches to fall. This could injure those outdoors, as well as damage homes and vehicles. Roadways may become blocked by downed trees. Localized power outages are possible. Unsecured light objects may become projectiles.

* Locations impacted include… Arlington, Alexandria, Germantown, Centreville, Waldorf, Dale City, Rockville, Bethesda, Gaithersburg, Reston, Bowie, Severn, Annandale, Clinton, Olney, Springfield, College Park, Crofton, South Riding and Fort Washington.

People attending the FEMA Greenbelt Metro mass vaccination site should seek safe shelter immediately!

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS…

For your protection move to an interior room on the lowest floor of a building.