GW Parkway reopens, cleanup nearly complete following Saturday’s storm

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The D.C. region continues to recover after Saturday’s severe storm ripped through the area with major roads reopening Wednesday and power restored after widespread outages. Here’s what you need to know.

Traffic Impact: The George Washington Memorial Parkway has reopened after work crews cleared more than 500 tons of trees, branches and other debris after Saturday’s severe storm ripped through the area.
Current Outages: As of late Tuesday night, Pepco said it had restored service for all customers impacted by the weekend’s storm.

GW Parkway reopens after extensive cleanup

The southbound lanes of the George Washington Memorial Parkway in Virginia reopened Wednesday morning, the National Park Service announced. The lanes were closed for more than three days as crews worked to clear more than 500 tons of fallen trees and debris from Saturday’s massive storm.

The reopened portion of the roadway runs southbound from the Capital Beltway to Spout Run Parkway. The northbound lanes reopened Tuesday afternoon.

With Wednesday’s reopening, that means the entire northern section of the GW Parkway will be fully operational, including the reversible lane, for the evening commute, the park service said.

Drivers should keep in mind that that section of the parkway is still the site of an ongoing work zone for a long-term rehab project, and drivers are urged to use caution because the three-lane traffic configuration, the National Park Service said.

“We’re back into the regular work zone pattern — one lane in each direction, roughly, between Spout Run and the Capital Beltway — but, again, you do have those lanes at your disposal,” said Ian Crawford in the WTOP Traffic Center.

In a news release, Charles Cuvelier, the superintendent of the GW Parkway, said crews this week removed between 250 and 325 hazardous trees, filling up 100 dump trucks and 15 chipper trucks of debris. All told, crews cleared more than 500 tons of wood and other debris from the parkway.

In D.C., Canal Road reopened early Wednesday afternoon between Foxhall Road and Reservoir Road, according to the WTOP Traffic Center.

You can see a map of other road closures in D.C. on an interactive map released by District officials.

Lights back on

Late Tuesday night, Pepco said power had been restored for all customers impacted by the weekend storm.

“We know this has been a challenging event for our customers, and we thank you for your patience, understanding, and communication, as we worked to make conditions safe and restore service,” the utility said in statement on X (formerly Twitter) shortly after 11:45 p.m.

At the height of the outages, Pepco said power had been knocked out for about 70,000 customers.

The storm’s severe winds toppled trees and power lines across the region, especially in leafy upper Northwest D.C., where it took crews days to get the lights back on for everyone.

The utility had initially hoped to have power restored by 3 p.m. Tuesday.

Forecast

As August begins, Wednesday will bring continued sunshine and very low humidity with a dew point in the 50s, and warm afternoon highs in the mid-80s.

According to 7News First Alert meteorologist Brian van de Graaff, the sky might look hazy again today with smoke from the Canadian wildfires. Air quality should be good to moderate.

It will be more humid on Thursday with dew points around 70 degrees. There is an isolated chance for a shower or storm on Thursday and Friday.

The first weekend of August will be warm and muggy, van de Graaff said.

WEDNESDAY: Hazy sunshine. Highs in the low to mid-80s. Winds: North to Southeast 5 to 10 mph.
WEDNESDAY NIGHT: Partly cloudy. Increasing humidity. Lows in the mid- to upper 60s. Winds: South 5 mph.
THURSDAY: Partly to mostly cloudy, breezy with slight chance of evening rain and storms. Highs in the mid- to upper 80s. Winds: South 10 to 15 mph with gusts of up to 20 mph.