Weather

Video: Lightning Strikes Above Ballston Quarter Mall

By ARLnow.com
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(Updated at 11:50 a.m.) If the early morning lightning storm didn’t wake you up, congratulations: you’re either an exceptionally deep sleeper or have some very high quality windows.

A supercell thunderstorm spawned ahead of the remnants of Hurricane Ida brought exceptionally frequent lightning and thunder to the area between 3-4 a.m. The light show and the loud booms awakened numerous local residents, not to mention their dogs and kids.

One Ballston resident and weather enthusiast even captured a bolt of lightning striking a building above Ballston Quarter mall.

The bolt — one among many during the storm, which also packed torrential rainfall and prompted both a Flood Warning and a Severe Thunderstorm Warning — set off fire alarms in the area.

https://twitter.com/elaurenb/status/1432980032205508613?s=21

A map of the lightning strikes last night, below, shows the degree to which Arlington was peppered by mother nature’s fury.

Lightning strikes early Wednesday morning (via lightningmaps.org)

Luckily, there were no reports of major flooding in Arlington as a result of the storm, unlike parts of Fairfax County and Montgomery County, where water rescues took place. There were some reports of storm damage, including a large tree branch that went through a home’s roof near the intersection of Military Road and Route 29 in Cherrydale, at least one tree down along the GW Parkway, and multiple trees down on Roosevelt Island.

We’re not done with the wild weather yet, however. Ida’s tropical remains may spawn more strong storms and cause additional flooding later today.

Tornadoes are even a possibility, forecasters say. A Tornado Watch was issued just before noon today.

A Flash Flood Watch for Arlington and the region remains in effect through Thursday morning.