[ad_1]
Crews cleaning branches and debris from trees cut down at the John Paul Jones memorial at West Potomac Park in Washington. (National Parks Service)
A line of intense thunderstorms poured into the Washington area late Thursday afternoon, triggering widespread high winds that shot down dozens of trees and power lines around the area.
A tornado was confirmed near Columbia, Maryland. The national meteorological service investigation the possibility that another land in the area of the mall and the tidal basin, where branches and tree branches littered the ground. But after reviewing the damage, they said the evidence was "inconclusive" of a real tornado, according to James Lee, a meteorologist responsible for the meteorological service bureau serving the Washington area. Lee said in an email that he felt that winds in a straight line of 70 to 80 mph had swept the region.
The meteorological service issued a tornado warning to the district at 15:47. On Thursday, it was interrupted 11 minutes later when the storm left the district and its rotation weakened.
After the storm, the National Parks Service described "Damage to the trees by the Lincoln Memorial at the Washington Monument and around the tide pool and Hains Point."
Lee said the weather service has received more than 20 other reports of tree damage in southeastern Washington near Massachusetts Avenue.
The meteorological radar provided subtle indications of rotation as the responsible storm followed approximately Rosslyn in the southern part of the district, but no photos or video emerged from a tornado actually on the ground.
On Thursday afternoon, the weather service issued 19 severe thunderstorm warnings and two tornado warnings, which collectively covered almost the entire region. As a result of the storms, he reported more than 75 reports of wind damage, mostly to trees.
Severe thunderstorm and tornado warnings were issued on Thursday and reports of damage by the National Meteorological Service. (Jordan Tessler)
Rather than tornadoes, much of the damage in the area was caused by downwinds. These winds, estimated by the radar, have reached 70 to 80 mph in a few areas, come from the cloud and fall on the ground before fading in all directions. Their bursts can be extremely powerful, tied with weak tornadoes.
The strongest current descending into the area hit Falls Church and Arlington County (including parts of the adjacent Annandale and Alexandria areas) where radars estimated gusts near 80 mph. Reagan National Airport timed a gust of 68 mph.
Doppler image of the descending / weak mesocyclone on Arlington and Washington, D.C. The arrows represent the interpretation of the airflow by the author. (Jeff Halverson of RadarScope)
In this part of northern Virginia, we have received dozens of reports of felled trees and power lines, as well as a dramatic video of exploding transformers:
Dave Statter of Falls Church, in an email, wrote that he had just arrived home when "hell was unleashed". A large tree was split in his garden, fell over his fence and broke a rail. Another trunk of a tree with several trunks fell into his driveway.
Jane Chicaharito of Falls Church was unable to enter her home, blocked by live cables connecting four to five power poles to the ground.
Power lines and poles on the ground after the violent storm at Falls Church on Thursday. (Jane Chicaharito via Facebook)
In Arlington's Bluemont Park, the winds knocked down a majestic oak tree. Dennis Dimick, a local photographer, tweeted the "beautiful" tree has been "a source of inspiration and a subject for my camera for many years".
Other areas of devastating winds blew in the suburbs of Maryland.
The tornado that hit Columbia at 3:34 pm was rated EF-1 on a scale of 0 to 5 for tornado intensity. He broke trees and ripped off the roof of one part of a building.
[A tornado struck Columbia, Md., on Thursday. Here’s the science behind it.]
But before producing a tornado, this powerful storm also unleashed fierce downwind winds in the north of Montgomery County.
"We have not seen such a gust since the derecho," writes Chris Hager at Olney at 3:24 pm. "Easy 60 mph."
The weather service received a report of a gust of 67 mph in Gaitherburg, Maryland, at approximately 3:15 pm
The responsible grain line originated in the Ohio Valley and, when it crossed east, weakened some when it crossed the Appalachian Mountains. But then, he encountered a very hot, humid and unstable air east of Interstate 81 and exploded just as he arrived in the Washington area.
The storm complex was a fast hitter, not exceeding about 30 minutes in a given area before flying southeast at a speed of 35 to 40 mph.
[ad_2]
Source link