Hurricane Ivan Tornado Outbreak: Dulles Airport!!!

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Up to four tornadoes were reported locally as the remnants of Hurricane Ivan moved across Loudoun County this evening, causing damage to numerous homes and a fire at Leesburg Executive Airport. According to the National Weather Service's Baltimore/Washington forecast office located in Sterling, four separate tornadoes swept through the area Friday night, affecting Hughesville, Lovettsville, Hamilton, and Dulles. Flights were grounded at Dulles International Airport, where the first tornado touched down at 6:11 p.m., and for an hour and a half as airport personnel waited for the tornado to pass and staff members at the Sterling weather station said that they could see the tornado just outside their windows. "We're located about a mile from the airport," said Luis Rosa of the National Weather Service. "We actually saw it from here in the office." Although there were widespread accounts of damage to homes and buildings and many residents were without power, no injuries were reported. Loudoun County Fire and Rescue crews began scrambling shortly after 5 p.m. when severe storms began moving in from the south, heading in a northwest direction across the area. By 6 p.m., the visibility on Rt. 7 was about 15 percent. The storm cell, which spurred tornadoes in the Opal and Warrenton areas of Fauquier County, moved quickly through western Loudoun. Downed trees and power lines forced the closing of Rt. 704 west of Leesburg and the storm's path could be followed with a line of twisted and broken tree limbs to Hamilton. The Hamilton Orchard subdivision was hardest hit, with several homes damaged by falling trees and limbs. That cell continued north, causing damage in Lovettsville before crossing the Potomac River. In some areas, rush hour traffic came to a stop as motorists watched for funnel clouds and dangerous weather. Those driving along Rt. 28 and Rt. 7 got an up close view of a tornado that moved up the west side of Rt. 28, passing behind the Wegmans store before dissipating and moving across the river into Maryland. Meanwhile, one of the numerous lightning strikes that occurred during the storm is believed to have caused a fire at the Justice Hangar at Leesburg Executive Airport. The flames and heavy smoke were reported at the facility and the large front door had buckled outward. One plane inside appeared to be severely damaged. By 8:30 p.m. that evening, though the worst of the weather seemed to have passed, the National Weather Service has extended the tornado watch until midnight in response to the unpredictable system and Loudoun County's Emergency Operations Center did not stand down until 1:10 a.m. By 8 a.m. that following morning, NWS recorded a total of 2.34 inches of precipitation due to the storm. "It was moving pretty fast—50 miles and hour—so it didn't have the chance to dump a lot of rain," said Rosa. "If it had been going, say 15 miles and hour, we would have seen about 10 inches of rain."

Category: Travel
Uploaded: March 25th, 2008 @ 11:50 pm
Author: stormchaser3751

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