WASHINGTON — The line of severe thunderstorms that swept through the Washington area on Tuesday left behind plenty of tree and power line damage.
There were reports of trees and branches that fell onto a handful of area homes, but structural damage was sporadic. One death was reported as a result of the storms.
The gusty squall moved into northern Loudoun County and upper Montgomery County around 5 p.m. Downed trees were reported in Purcellville as the storms moved through. An automated weather station near Damascus recorded a 64 mph wind gust. A tree was toppled on nearby Valley Park Road. At least one home was damaged by an uprooted tree. The winds knocked down a large tree on top of Route 109 in Barnesville, blocking the road.
As the storms moved southeastward, numerous trees were reportedly felled by high winds in Poolesville. Montgomery County Police say a 79-year-old man was killed when he swerved into a pole to avoid a tree that had fallen on Route 28 near Cattail Road.
By 6 p.m., the storms advanced through Germantown where a few pine trees and an oak were felled by high winds near the intersection of Route 119 and Wisteria Drive.
WTOP’s Michelle Basch reported that a tree punched a hole in the roof of a Germantown town house on Waterside Drive. A van was sideswiped by a falling tree limb on nearby Waldorf Drive.
At 6:10 p.m., a weather station in Gaithersburg measured a wind gust of 58 mph.
The line of storms surged into Fairfax County and Northwest D.C. between 6:30 p.m. and 7 p.m. WTOP’s Dick Uliano reported a tree had crashed down along 35th Street NW at Prospect Street in Georgetown.
The southbound lanes of the George Washington Memorial Parkway were blocked between Route 123 and Spout Run Parkway due to a large tree than succumbed to strong winds.
Fairfax County Police initially reported 30 road closures after the storms rolled through. In Fairfax City, extensive tree and power line damage occurred near the intersection of Route 123 and Braddock Road. Roberts Road was blocked due to a number of downed trees near Collingham Drive. The cleanup lasted well into the night. Several homes were damaged by falling trees in Burke. Thousands were still without power as of midday Wednesday.
The storms moved through Prince William County between 6 and 7 p.m. A tree came down on a house on Veronica Lane in Lake Ridge.
The storms pushed southeast of the metro area and across the Chesapeake Bay after 8 p.m. An offshore buoy east of Dares Beach recorded a wind gust to 70 mph, the strongest wind gusts measured during the event. A weather station in North Beach measured a gust to 59 mph.
