Thunderstorm Wind — Falls Church (c), Virginia

1999-06-14 · near Falls Church, Falls Church (c), Virginia

Event narrative

Trees and power lines downed

Wider weather episode

An area of showers and thunderstorms moved across Northern Virginia between 4:20 PM and 5:15 PM EDT. The strongest of these storms moved across Fairfax and Arlington Counties, producing severe wind gusts, small hail, frequent lightning, and very heavy downpours. A localized area in Oakton, north of Interstate 66 and south of Courthouse Road and Oleander Avenue, received a microburst of wind over 70 MPH. The severe wind blew off the press box, damaged fences, equipment shelters, batting cages, and blew over goal posts at an athletic field at Oakton High School. Several trees and a shed on school property were also damaged. A couple of nearby houses lost a significant number of shingles, and one home had a window shutter blown off and an antenna bent. This storm moved into Eastern Fairfax County, the cities of Falls Church and Alexandria, and into Arlington County and downed several trees and power lines. One tree fell on an apartment complex on North Glebe Road and displaced several residents. Another tree brought down wires at Route 50 and Gallows Road, disrupting rush hour traffic. From 5:00 PM to 7:00 PM EDT, 1.3 inches of rain was reported. The downpours and clogged storm drains led to high water across the westbound lanes of Interstate 66 between the Roosevelt Bridge and Glebe Road, forcing authorites to reroute traffic. Around 22,000 customers across Northern Virginia lost power as a direct result of the storm.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (38.8800, -77.1800)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 5705371. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.