2 Tornadoes Confirmed in DC and Arlington County

During the severe weather events of July 1, 2021, there was a tornado warning issued for downtown DC and parts of Arlington County.

As you can see from this picture, any place in the red area was in the tornado warning. Last Friday(July 2nd, 2021), the NWS put out a public statement, confirming 2 tornadoes. Let's take a look at the first one, in Arlington County.

This is the tornado that touched down in Arlington County. It lasted for around 6 minutes, from 8:59 PM EDT - 9:05 PM EDT, and on the Enhanced Fujita Scale, the tornado was an EF-1, with its peak winds at 90 MPH. Thankfully there was no injuries or deaths from this tornado. The maximum width(of the funnel/tornado itself) at its peak was 125 yards, and it covered 4.4 miles. In the picture, the red path is where the tornado crossed, with damage reports shown to determine the strength of the tornado. Remember, the tornado is given a rating on the damage it causes, not its peak wind. From the damage it creates, we can estimate the wind speed of the tornado.

This is the tornado that touched down in DC, specifically in H St Corridor NE-Kingman Park. This tornado earned an EF0 on the Enhanced Fujita Scale, and it lasted for 2 minutes, from 9:08-9:10 PM EDT. At its peak, the winds were 80 MPH. It's maximum width at its peak was 75 yards, and it covered 0.75 miles. The red line shows where the tornado crossed, and the damage reports. The main damage reports here were just trees being down, and large limbs being snapped. Thankfully there were no injuries or deaths.

Tornadoes in DC don't usually happen, and damage from storms are usually from straight-line winds, so this is pretty surprising! Thankfully, no injuries or deaths were recorded from these tornadoes, or the storms that move through as far as I know.

Slight Risk for DMV Today

 9:05 PM:

TORNADO WARNING FOR DC. SEEK SHELTER NOW IF YOU ARE IN THE AFFECTED AREA!!

3:35 PM:

 

There is a flash flood warning for Bethesda and a good amount of Fairfax county. Get to higher ground now if you live in those areas!

 3:10 PM:

Severe thunderstorm warning for parts of Northern MoCo, 60 MPH wind and penny sized hail are possible.

2:45 PM: 

There is a severe thunderstorm warning for Northern MoCo. 1" hail and 60 MPH wind is possible with this storm.

2:40 PM: 

 

The SPC has issued a mesoscale discussion for most of our area. The area in the circle has the greatest threat for damaging wind gusts(short term).

"Storms have begun to congeal into clusters across northern VA and MD, with a leading supercell approaching the Chesapeake Bay. Deep-layer shear of 30-40 kt will continue to support storm organization, with a mix of multicell clusters and leading supercells possible. Even though lapse rates aloft remain modest, hail up to 1.75 inches in diameter has been reported with the leading supercell in MD. Occasional severe hail may remain possible in the short term with any storm that can remain at least semi-discrete. Otherwise, scattered damaging wind gusts will likely be the primary severe threat as storms continue spreading eastward this afternoon. The greatest threat for damaging wind gusts should exist across parts of northern VA into central/eastern MD and DE where robust heating is supporting MLCAPE of 1000-2000 J/kg and steep low-level lapse rates. At least an isolated damaging wind threat may also exist with a small cluster of storms moving eastward across far southeastern PA into southern NJ, but instability is comparatively weaker with northward extent across this region owing to earlier precipitation/storms." - SPC
 

2:30 PM: 

There is a severe thunderstorm warning for southern MoCo. Expect 60 MPH wind and 0.75" hail.

 

There is a slight risk today for the DMV, and also a flash flood watch for areas east of the Blue Ridge from 2PM this afternoon through tomorrow morning. There is also a severe thunderstorm watch mostly for areas east of the Blue Ridge as well.

There is a severe thunderstorm watch for areas east of the Blue Ridge, including MoCo. Expect 1/2" sized hail(isolated), and wind up to 70 MPH, plus frequent lightning strikes.

There is a slight risk for eastern and semi-northern areas, and a marginal risk for northern areas. The main threats are flooding and wind. In the yellow, is a 15% chance for any area in the yellow to see 58+ MPH winds, and a 5% chance in the green.

This is the flash flood watch. Areas in the green are in the flash flood watch. A widespread 0.5-1" of rain can be expected(areas outside of the watch), but within the flash flood watch, 1-3" of rain can be expected, with localized areas having more.

 

This is a sounding from the HRRR at 2-3 PM EDT. It shows around 2000 MLCAPE, and a good amount of moisture. The shear is meh, and the lapse rates are generally good.

I'll update this post more often as the day goes on.