(Updated at noon) The remnants of Hurricane Ida are heading our way, and forecasters are already warning of potential flooding.
Ida has ravaged portions of Louisiana and Mississippi since making landfall as a Category 4 storm Sunday afternoon. It knocked out power to more than a million homes and businesses, including the entire city of New Orleans; interrupted 911 service; and caused catastrophic flooding, prompting numerous water rescues.
Update at 4:20 p.m. — A Flood Warning has now been issued for part of Arlington.
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN STERLING VIRGINIA HAS ISSUED A
Update at 8:55 p.m. — About 900 Dominion customers are still without power after the earlier storm, which toppled trees across the county.
https://twitter.com/chad_clay/status/1431010231199408138
County Board Member Talks Gondola — “Christian Dorsey (D) said the county will have to decide whether it makes sense to commit public money to the project. ‘It’s a fairly short walk from the Rosslyn Metro station to that station in Georgetown,’ he said. In 2017, the county board said in a letter that it would not fund the gondola project despite agreeing to commit $35,000 to a feasibility study. ‘We viewed it as more of a luxury concept than an essential transportation service,’ Dorsey said.” [Washington Post]
Alexandria Mayor Gabs About Gondola — “‘Gondola, yes or no?’ Sherwood asked. ‘Anything that provides new transportation options is a good thing,’ Wilson said. ‘We’ve experimented more with ferries. The river is typically the challenge.'” [ALXnow]
The remnants of Tropical Storm Fred are making their way north, bringing the possibility of flash floods in the D.C. area.
Now a tropical depression after landfall in the Florida Panhandle, the bulk of the storm is expected to stay west of the metro area, tracking over West Virginia. But Arlington and surrounding areas are still expected to get soaked by heavy rains caused by Fred.
Another day, another storm watch
Arlington and the entire D.C. area is under a Severe Thunderstorm Watch. under 8 p.m. Forecasters say storms packing frequent lightning, hail, and damaging wind gusts up to 70 mph are possible later today.
After last night’s strong storms that knocked out power to more than 5,000 homes and businesses, more stormy weather might be on the way.
The National Weather Service has issued a Severe Thunderstorm Watch for Arlington and much of the region.
Update at 11:15 p.m. — The number of outages in Arlington is now down to 2,655, according to Dominion.
Update at 9:35 p.m. — About 4,000 Dominion customers are still in the dark in Arlington. Power was restored to more than 1,000 homes and businesses over the past three hours.
(Updated at 3:10 p.m.) It’s overcast and muggy right now, but it could be stormy later today in Arlington.
A strong storm toppled trees and knocked out power to more than 2,000 homes and businesses last night in parts of Arlington — primarily around the East Falls Church area — and another round of severe weather is possible later this afternoon and evening.
Update at 11:05 p.m. — Dominion is currently reporting 2,050 customers without power in Arlington, mostly in northern and western parts of the county. More than 19,500 customers are also without power in Falls Church and Fairfax County after the powerful storm.
Wow! A short but powerful storm w/ lots of lightning strikes & strong winds left 20,000 @DominionEnergy NoVa customers in the dark!
A Severe Thunderstorm Watch was just issued for Arlington and parts of the D.C. area.
Arlington, Alexandria, Falls Church and Fairfax County are among the Northern Virginia locales under the watch, which is in effect until 8 p.m.
Update at 1:50 p.m. — In addition to the Flash Flood Watch, a Severe Thunderstorm Watch was just issued for the area. Damaging winds, hail and torrential downpours are possible, forecasters say.
Severe Thunderstorm Watch in effect until 11 PM. Main risk is damaging winds. pic.twitter.com/gVYqxvoZed
