Photos: Damaging storms leave over 140,000 without power in mid-Atlantic
The week kicked off with severe weather in the mid-Atlantic as a line of storms brought damaging winds to areas from southeastern Ohio through eastern Virginia.
“Storms drastically intensified in central and eastern Ohio and continued to intensify as they approached Washington, D.C.,” said AccuWeather Meteorologist Alyson Hoegg.
The worst of the storms focused on northeastern West Virginia, northern Virginia and the Washington, D.C., metro area where hail as large as quarters and wind gusts over 50 mph were common.
These strong winds brought down trees and power lines across the region, resulting in widespread power outages. In some cases, falling trees caused property damage.
Over 122,000 electric customers in Virginia and 20,000 in West Virginia were without power early on Monday night in the wake of the storms.
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) imposed temporary ground stops at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport and Washington Dulles International Airport, contributing to hundreds of flight delays and dozens of cancellations across the region.
The ground stop at Washington Dulles was put in place just minutes after the National Weather Service issued a tornado warning for an approaching storm; however, no tornado has been confirmed.
People in the airport took shelter at the airport’s underground train tunnel until the storm had passed.
Additional rounds of severe thunderstorms are possible across the mid-Atlantic this week.
“Severe thunderstorms may target areas farther to the east and north in the mid-Atlantic on Tuesday,” said AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Kristina Pydynowski.
The leading edge of a severe thunderstorm west of Washington, D.C. on Monday afternoon. (Photo/Anthony Venafro)
A fallen tree caused property damage near Reston, Virginia. (Photo/Douglas Errett)
