The National Weather Service has issued a Fire Weather Watch and a High Wind Watch for tomorrow. Today’s warm weather will give way to colder, windy weather tomorrow. Gusts could reach as high as 60 miles per hour, forecasters say.
HIGH WIND WATCH IN EFFECT FROM LATE TONIGHT THROUGH SATURDAY EVENING…
Hang On To Your Hat — A wind advisory is in effect until 9:00 tonight for the entire metro area. The National Weather Service says to expect sustained winds of 25 to 30 miles per hour, with gusts of 45 to 50 miles per hour. So far, the wind has not caused any major problems in Arlington. Dominion is reporting only 17 customers without power in Arlington as of 6:30 a.m.
Local Snowstorm a Bust, But Travelers Stranded — As it turns out, the snowstorm that was supposed to hit D.C. yesterday left barely a dusting. But at Reagan National Airport this morning, there is evidence of what could have been. The storm ended up blanketing northeastern cities with up to a foot and a half of snow, causing major disruptions to air, rail and bus travel. Many travelers who were trying to fly from Reagan National to Philly, New York or Boston instead spent the night at the airport. New York’s airports are not expected to reopen until this afternoon.
So far, so good, at least for Arlington. There are no reports of significant damage or widespread power outages in the county as a result of this morning’s nasty weather.
As of 7:20 a.m., Dominion is reporting 115 customers without power in Arlington.
This morning’s heavy rain and high winds have prompted the National Weather Service to issue a number of alerts and advisories for Arlington and the surrounding area:
Tornado Watch:
Seeing the storm damage in D.C. and Montgomery County this morning brought back memories of the storms that ripped through Arlington and Alexandria one week ago.
One storm-related incident in particular still has people talking a week later — the parking lot full of cars with blown-out windows at the Shirlington Bus Station.
High winds are causing problems in the area. On an otherwise beautiful, sunny day, more than 1,000 Dominion customers were without power in Arlington as of 4:30 p.m.
On Dittmar Road in North Arlington, two large trees were felled by the wind, bringing down a mess of telephone poles, live power lines and communication cables. The area is expected to be without power for an extended period of time. Stretched-thin Dominion Power repair crews have yet to arrive on scene.
Throughout Arlington, today’s wicked winds claimed numerous trees, power lines and — in at least two cases — cars.
Among areas where large trees were uprooted were N. Manchester Street at 9th Road, near McKinley Elementary School, and the 1200 block of Harrison St., off of Washington Blvd.
We’re hearing of a large tree and live power lines down on N. Harrison St. in the Westover section of Arlington, near the intersection with N. Washington St.
Police and fire have the area blocked off and are asking residents on the 1200 block of N. Harrison (near Virginia Hospital Center) to stay in their homes.
High winds continue to whip across the region. As of 9:45 a.m., there were 863 Dominion customers in Arlington without power.
Strong, gusty winds are knocking down tree branches large and small around Arlington.
Broken branches have been falling on roadways and on power lines, keeping police and power company crews busy all afternoon. As of 3:00 p.m., there were between 250 and 1,000 Dominion customers without power in Arlington, according to the company’s web site.
The snow we were expecting, for once, did not materialize. Instead, it looks like we’ll have 40-50 mile per hour wind gusts later today.
County road crews, who were prepared to temporarily halt pothole repairs to focus on clearing snow, can now continue patching Arlington’s pockmarked streets.
Wind gusts in excess of 30 miles per hour are currently being recorded at Reagan National Airport. Along with the wind have come reports of downed trees and downed power lines. At least one tree was reported to have caught on fire after falling on live wires.
As of 3:00 AM, Dominion Power was reporting 44,849 outages throughout Northern Virginia. Several hundred of those outages were in Arlington.
