Two Tornadoes Confirmed on July 1 By NWS

On Thursday July 1 multiple severe storms rolled through the Mid Atlantic region, many with warnings attached. While the afternoon storms got most of the attention, it was a supercell in the evening just after sunset that resulted in touchdowns.

According to The National Weather Service surveys, the first hit was 90 mph in Arlington, VA. Then again touched down in Washington with 80 mph winds.

The extensive storm damage in central Maryland was possibly from straight line winds. I understand many are disappointed when they hear that, but a different force can be equally as destructive.

*NWS Reports are in all CAPS (no pun intended)

ARLINGTON VA TO WASHINGTON DC TORNADO…

RATING: EF-1

ESTIMATED PEAK WIND: 90 MPH

PATH LENGTH /STATUTE/: 4.4 MILES

PATH WIDTH /MAXIMUM/: 125 YARDS

FATALITIES: 0

INJURIES: 0

START DATE: JUL 01 2021

START TIME: 8:59 PM EDT

START LOCATION: WAVERLY HILLS, ARLINGTON VA

START LAT/LON: 38.8965 / -77.1174

END DATE: JUL 01 2021

END TIME: 9:05 PM EDT

END LOCATION: DOWNTOWN, NW WASHINGTON DC

END LAT/LON: 38.8914 / -77.0369

More detailed report, below the maps:

National Weather Service Detailed Report

ON THURSDAY EVENING, JULY 1, 2021, A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM MOVED EAST

FROM ARLINGTON COUNTY INTO NORTHWEST WASHINGTON DC, GENERATING A

TORNADO THAT PRODUCED INTERMITTENT WIND DAMAGE ALONG A 4.4 MILE PATH

FROM THE WAVERLY HILLS NEIGHBORHOOD OF ARLINGTON TO NEAR 16TH STREET

NW AND CONSTITUTION AVENUE NW IN DOWNTOWN WASHINGTON DC.

WSR-88D RADAR IN STERLING, VIRGINIA, AND THE FAA TERMINAL DOPPLER

WEATHER RADAR FOR RONALD REAGAN WASHINGTON NATIONAL AIRPORT

INDICATED THAT THE TORNADO TOUCHED DOWN AT 8:59 PM EDT IN THE

WAVERLY HILLS COMMUNITY OF ARLINGTON.

NUMEROUS TREES WERE SNAPPED

IN MULTIPLE DIRECTIONS IN THIS COMMUNITY, NOTABLY IN AND AROUND

WOODSTOCK PARK AND IN THE BACKYARDS OF RESIDENCES ON THE 4500

BLOCK OF 20TH PLACE N IN ARLINGTON. ONE TREE IN WOODSTOCK PARK HAD

ITS BARK REMOVED AS A RESULT OF THE WIND.

AS THE TORNADO CROSSED

INTO THE CHERRYDALE NEIGHBORHOOD OF ARLINGTON, SEVERAL TREES WERE

UPROOTED AND NUMEROUS LARGE BRANCHES WERE SNAPPED, SOME BLOCKING

ROADS AND DOWNING POWER LINES. SOME HOMES HAD SIDING REMOVED. MUCH

OF THE DOWNED TREES AND BRANCHES FELL TO THE EAST, BUT SOME FELL

TO THE NORTH AND NORTHEAST AS WELL. MAXIMUM WINDS WERE ESTIMATED

TO HAVE REACHED ABOUT 90 MPH, AN EF-1 ON THE ENHANCED FUJITA

SCALE.

WIND DAMAGE JUST SOUTH AND SOUTHWEST OF THE TORNADO TRACK WAS

DETERMINED TO BE THE RESULT OF STRAIGHT LINE WINDS. THIS DAMAGE

BEGAN NEAR I-66 BETWEEN VA-267 AND US-29 IN EAST FALLS CHURCH, AND

CONTINUED EASTWARD SOUTH OF THE TORNADO TRACK THROUGH WESTOVER

AND VIRGINIA SQUARE, GENERALLY ALONG WASHINGTON BLVD. NUMEROUS

TREES AND LARGE LIMBS WERE DOWNED. MULTIPLE TREES FELL FACING EAST

NEXT TO THE CRESCENT ON N WESTMORELAND STREET DAMAGING A FENCE.

ONE TREE AND LARGE LIMBS FELL INTO A HOME IN THE 4300 BLOCK OF

16TH RD N, INJURING AND BRIEFLY TRAPPING A RESIDENT.

THERE WERE ALSO NUMEROUS TREES DOWNED

AROUND WASHINGTON-LIBERTY HIGH SCHOOL.

THE TORNADO CONTINUED EAST OVER THE LYON VILLAGE NEIGHBORHOOD,

DOWNING SEVERAL TREES AND NUMEROUS BRANCHES ACROSS THE NORTH END OF

THE COMMUNITY, INCLUDING AROUND THE COMMUNITY CENTER. THE TORNADO

WEAKENED SLIGHTLY AS IT MOVED INTO THE COURTHOUSE COMMUNITY, PASSING

JUST NORTH OF KEY ELEMENTARY SCHOOL, CONTINUING TO SNAP LARGE

BRANCHES AND DOWN POWER LINES. DAMAGE BECAME HARD TO IDENTIFY AS

THE CIRCULATION CROSSED THE HIGHLY URBANIZED AREA OF ROSSLYN, BUT

EMERGED AGAIN AFTER THE TORNADO CROSSED THE POTOMAC RIVER AND

ENTERED THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA.

THE CIRCULATION LIKELY CROSSED THE POTOMAC RIVER NEAR THE THEODORE

ROOSEVELT BRIDGE. THE FIRST SIGN OF TORNADIC WIND DAMAGE WAS AT

THE WEST END OF THE NATIONAL MALL, WITH A SNAPPED HARDWOOD TREE ON

THE MALL ON 23RD ST NW BETWEEN CONSTITUTION AVENUE NW AND LINCOLN

MEMORIAL CIRCLE. TREE DAMAGE AROUND THE LINCOLN MEMORIAL AND

FURTHER SOUTH INTO WEST POTOMAC PARK AND NEAR THE DC WAR MEMORIAL

WAS DETERMINED TO BE CAUSED BY STRAIGHT-LINE WINDS.

HOWEVER,

ACROSS THE MALL ALONG CONSTITUTION AVENUE NW, WIND DAMAGE TO

TREES ON THE MALL PARALLELING CONSTITUTION AVE NW WAS PROMINENT

FROM 23RD ST NW EAST FOR 0.75 MILES TO NEAR 16TH STREET NW SOUTH

OF THE ELLIPSE. TREE LIMBS FELL TO THE NORTH ON CONSTITUTION

AVENUE NW, ORTHOGONAL TO THE STORM’S MOTION, INDICATING

CONVERGENCE AND ROTATION.

CONCENTRATED DAMAGE AT THE NORTH

PORTION OF CONSTITUTION GARDENS WAS CHAOTIC AND CONVERGENT, WITH

HARDWOOD LIMBS AND DOWNED TREES FALLING IN MULTIPLE DIRECTIONS,

INDICATING THE TORNADIC CIRCULATION. FINALLY, THE LAST DISCERNIBLE

TORNADIC DAMAGE WAS TO TEMPORARY FENCING ON THE MALL THAT WAS

INSTALLED FOR THE INDEPENDENCE DAY CELEBRATION, DIRECTLY ACROSS

FROM THE ELLIPSE. THIS FENCING APPEARED TO HAVE BEEN LIFTED UP AND

TWISTED, LANDING IN A MANGLED AND HAPHAZARD MANNER.

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE THANKS ARLINGTON COUNTY’S OFFICE OF

EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT, THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA’S HOMELAND

SECURITY AND EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AGENCY, THE MEDIA, OUR SKYWARN

SPOTTERS, AND THE PUBLIC FOR THEIR ASSISTANCE IN IDENTIFYING

DAMAGED AREAS.

.H ST NE CORRIDOR TO KINGMAN PARK TORNADO…

RATING: EF-0

ESTIMATED PEAK WIND: 80 MPH

PATH LENGTH /STATUTE/: 0.75 MILES

PATH WIDTH /MAXIMUM/: 75 YARDS

FATALITIES: 0

INJURIES: 0

START DATE: JUL 01 2021

START TIME: 9:08 PM EDT

START LOCATION: H ST NE CORRIDOR, WASHINGTON DC

START LAT/LON: 38.9014 / -76.9973

END DATE: JUL 01 2021

END TIME: 9:10 PM EDT

END LOCATION: KINGMAN PARK, NE WASHINGTON DC

END LAT/LON: 38.8968 / -76.9802

ON THURSDAY EVENING, JULY 1, 2021, A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM MOVED

ACROSS WASHINGTON DC, GENERATING A SECOND, BRIEF EF-0 TORNADO

SEPARATE FROM THE ONE THAT IMPACTED THE NATIONAL MALL. THIS SECOND

TORNADO PRODUCED WIND DAMAGE IN THE H STREET NE CORRIDOR TO

KINGMAN PARK OF NE WASHINGTON DC ALONG A 0.75 MILE PATH.

WSR-88D RADAR IN STERLING, VIRGINIA, AND THE FAA TERMINAL DOPPLER

WEATHER RADAR FOR RONALD REAGAN WASHINGTON NATIONAL AIRPORT INDICATED

THAT THE TORNADO TOUCHED DOWN AT 9:08 PM EDT IN THE H STREET

CORRIDOR OF NE WASHINGTON DC. A LARGE TREE LIMB FELL ON TWO CARS

ALONG THE 600 BLOCK OF I STREET NE. A LARGE HARDWOOD TREE WAS

SNAPPED ALONG THE 900 BLOCK OF 7TH ST NE, AND FELL DUE NORTH,

ORTHOGONAL TO THE STORM’S MOTION. NUMEROUS SMALLER TREE LIMBS

WERE DOWNED IN THIS AREA.

THE TORNADO PROCEEDED EAST ALONG THE H ST NE CORRIDOR, CROSSING OVER

MARYLAND AVE NE, CAUSING INTERMITTENT DOWNED TREE LIMBS. SEVERAL

HARDWOOD TREES WERE DOWNED IN ROSEDALE RECREATION CENTER PROPERTY,

FALLING DUE WEST. RADAR INDICATED THE CIRCULATION DIMINISHED AT

APPROXIMATELY 9:10 PM EDT AS IT MOVED EAST OF THE ROSEDALE

RECREATION CENTER. MAXIMUM WINDS WERE ESTIMATED AT 80 MPH, WITH A

PATH WIDTH OF 75 YARDS.

EF SCALE: THE ENHANCED FUJITA SCALE CLASSIFIES TORNADOES INTO THE

FOLLOWING CATEGORIES:

EF0………65 TO 85 MPH

EF1………86 TO 110 MPH

EF2………111 TO 135 MPH

EF3………136 TO 165 MPH

EF4………166 TO 200 MPH

EF5………>200 MPH

JEL/CS/DHOF/MANNING

Radar Loop From Initial Cluster

2 PM to 6 PM Thursday July 1

Storm Damage Reports

Also See:

Storm Video and Top Photos

Sunshine State Of Mind

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