Thunderstorm Wind — Arlington, Virginia

2023-07-29 · near Rosslyn, Arlington, Virginia

Event narrative

Hundreds of trees, branches, and wires blew down in Chain Bridge Forest, Rivercrest, Bellevue Forest, Riverwood, Court House, Clarendon, Virginia Square, Maywood, Lyon Village, Rosslyn, and Fort Myer, with dozens onto cars and houses. Dozens of trees and branches blew down in Arlington National Cemetery. Southbound George Washington Memorial Parkway was closed north of US-50 Arlington Boulevard for nearly a week due to fallen trees and storm debris; northbound was shut down north of Spout Run Parkway. Southbound Spout Run Parkway was also closed for several days between Lorcom Lane and George Washington Memorial Parkway due to downed trees. Numerous trees blew down blocking eastbound I-66 Custis Memorial Parkway in Rosslyn, where several road signs also blew down.

Wider weather episode

A strong cold front intersected a very hot, humid, and unstable airmass across the Mid-Atlantic shortly after peak heating. Aided by dynamics and moderately strong shear from an approaching upper-level trough, the front spawned bands of thunderstorms that produced considerable wind damage particularly in the I-95 corridor. Some areas saw the worst thunderstorm-driven wind speeds and damage since the derecho in June 2012, though the area affected by the highest magnitude of winds was not nearly as large.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (38.9004, -77.0917)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1108147. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.