A road is closed in the Arlington Ridge neighborhood due to a downed tree and power lines.
The large tree fell this afternoon during calm weather, taking power and utility lines down with it. Thirty-five Dominion customers are without power in the area, according to the power company.
The outage was first reported around 2:30 p.m. Numerous traffic signals along Columbia Pike and Glebe Road, including the signal at the busy intersection of the Pike and Glebe, were reported to be dark, though most have since come back online.
The outage also briefly caused some issues at the county’s Water Pollution Control Plant along Glebe Road, according to scanner traffic.
The Virginia Dept. of Motor Vehicles office on Four Mile Run Drive is reported to be among those affected by a widespread power outage this morning.
On what may be the hottest day of the year so far, large portions of the Shirlington and Fairlington areas are without power.
The test is being conducted to determine how oil traveled from Dominion’s Crystal City substation to the Roaches Run Waterfowl Sanctuary.
The dye will be a bright peach color and it is non-toxic; it’s expected to last no longer than a week and, according to Dominion, currents and sunlight will likely cause the dye to dissipate within a day.
The power problem caused the traffic signal at the busy intersection of Lee Highway and Washington Blvd to start flashing, snarling traffic, and was also said to be responsible for numerous activated burglar and fire alarm calls in the area.
As of 4 p.m., there were just shy of 600 Dominion customers reported to be without power in Northern Virginia, mostly in Fairfax County.
More than 500 Dominion customers are without power at this hour due to a reported equipment problem.
As of 11:55 p.m., 541 Dominion customers were in the dark. The outage is centered around the High View Park neighborhood, along the Lee Highway corridor.
(Updated at 3:15 p.m.) Several traffic signals are out around Clarendon following a power outage that briefly affected much of the Rosslyn-Ballston corridor.
The outage was reported around 12:30 p.m. in Courthouse, Clarendon, Virginia Square and Ballston. Power was quickly restored in most places, though Dominion says just over 200 customers are still without power.
Dominion Admits Culpability for Potomac Oil Spill — Last week’s mysterious oil spill that ran from the Roaches Run Waterfowl Sanctuary, down the Potomac past Reagan National Airport, came from a Dominion Power substation in Crystal City. The company is taking responsibility for the mineral oil spill, which killed 21 birds, mostly Canada geese, and prompted a large Coast Guard and Arlington County cleanup response. [Washington Post]
Loverde Issues Statement on Scalia’s Death — Diocese of Arlington Bishop Paul Loverde issued a statement on the passing of U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia over the weekend. Loverde said “we are all deeply saddened” by Scalia’s unexpected death, lauding him as “a man so deeply rooted in his faith, so brilliant in the law and in jurisprudence, so clear and precise in his judicial statements, so wholly committed to his family, so engaging with colleagues and friends, often with great humor.” [Catholic Diocese of Arlington]
Power returned to the area around 8:45 p.m., according to Dominion’s power outage map.
Tonight’s snowstorm caused the outage, the power company said.
The power went out as winds whipped up in advance of a brief period of snow around 7:15 p.m. Via Twitter, one resident reported the sound of a likely transformer explosion.
The power outage is affecting residents around Nauck and other areas around S. Glebe Road, south of Columbia Pike in Arlington, and around W. Glebe Road in Alexandria. Residents of Fairlington and other nearby neighborhoods reported that power was flickering around the start of the outage but quickly came back on.
On its website, Dominion says it’s investigating the cause of the outage and hopes to have power restored between 4-6 p.m.
Police are monitoring traffic at at least one intersection where traffic lights have gone dark, according to scanner traffic. (Update at 3:10 p.m. — A generator is being used to run the traffic signals at Arlington Blvd and Henderson Road.)
Businesses, homes and traffic lights are dark in and around Shirlington and Fairlington.
Initial reports suggest that the outage may be as a result of some balloons that struck a power line. Outages are also being reported in Clarendon and other parts of North Arlington.
