More than 16,000 residences and businesses in Fairfax County lack power following last night’s powerful thunderstorm.
As of 10 a.m., power outages were affecting approximately 16,464 Dominion Energy customers in the county, plus another 607 customers in Fairfax City, according to the utility’s outage map.
The storm entered the D.C. region yesterday (Thursday) just before midnight, bringing intense lighting and thunder as well as wind gusts that topped 60 mph, Capital Weather reported. Wind speeds reached 69 mph around Tysons, and a weather satellite detected more than 3,400 lightning flashes between 11 p.m. yesterday and 1 a.m. today (Friday) within 20 miles of downtown D.C.
Reports of toppled trees were also plentiful, with the Herndon Police Department alone highlighting three that blocked roads overnight.
INCIDENT ALERT: A tree blocking the road has Pembrook Street closed at Worcester. DPW has been notified and is enrt. This will be a lengthy delay. Updates as available pic.twitter.com/MwugWqE1An
— Herndon Police (@HerndonPolice) September 4, 2026
A large tree that fell on Friar Tuck Court in Annandale crushed at least three vehicles parked in the cul-de-sac, resident Richard Archambault told FFXnow. While his car was spared, a friend’s electric vehicle was among those that got “totaled.”
Based on Fairfax Alerts notifications, streets experiencing closures or traffic delays due to downed trees this morning included:
- Southbound Fairfax County Parkway at Elden Street in Herndon
- Annandale Road at Graham Road in West Falls Church
- Sabra Lane at Wildflower Lane in Annandale
- Colfax Avenue at Bradley Blvd in Bailey’s Crossroads
- Westford Drive at Blandfield Court in Wolf Trap
- Kirby Road at Autumn Chase Lane in McLean
- Douglas Drive at Benjamin Street in McLean
- Fort Hunt Road at Mason Hill Drive in Fort Hunt
- Elmwood Drive at Edgemont Drive in Rose Hill
The storm also left a large metal covering on the train tracks near the Franconia-Springfield Metro station, the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority said. The obstruction was “partially cleared” by 5:30 a.m. and didn’t affect service during the morning commute.
Team Metro has been working all morning to address the aftermath of the storm – including this huge track obstruction at Franconia-Springfield, which has been partially cleared and is not impacting service. We appreciate your patience during the morning commute.
— Metro (@wmata.com) September 4, 2026 at 5:34 AM
“As cleanup and restoration efforts continue, residents are encouraged to report outages directly to their utility provider,” Fairfax County said in an emergency blog post. “If you are heading out today, watch for downed limbs, standing water and traffic signals that may be out in some neighborhoods. Drive carefully and treat any intersection with a dark traffic signal as a four-way stop.”
Power outages can be reported to Dominion Energy and NOVEC, while downed trees and power lines can be reported to 911 if there’s an immediate danger or to one of the county’s two electric utilities in non-emergency cases.
Some parts of eastern Fairfax County were affected by flash flooding. According to FFXnow’s sister site ALXnow, Alexandria first responders rescued five people from floodwaters on George Washington Memorial Parkway, and two people were stranded in standing water at E. Glebe Road and Wilson Avenue.
Overnight storms have cause widespread power outages, downed trees and road closures. Visit our Storm Center to report outages and downed trees: https://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/emergency/stormcenter
— Fairfax County Government (@fairfaxcounty.gov) September 4, 2026 at 7:21 AM
According to initial observations from the National Weather Service, the overnight storm dropped 1.25 inches of rain at Reagan National Airport — not too far off the record for Sept. 3 of 1.67 inches set in 1974 — while a more modest 0.62 inches were recorded at Dulles International Airport.
Per the NWS, Dulles Airport has recorded more than 30 inches of precipitation so far this year, slightly above the “normal” value of 29.59 inches and well above last year’s total at this time of 24.6 inches. The 23.1 inches of precipitation at National Airport, however, remains below the normal value of 28.29 inches.
Additional rain is possible today.
“Scattered severe thunderstorms capable of producing damaging wind gusts are possible this afternoon and evening,” the NWS said in a hazardous weather outlook issued at 4:28 a.m.
The recent rain has helped ease drought conditions that have plagued much of Virginia, including Fairfax County, this summer. The U.S. Drought Monitor is now characterizing conditions in Fairfax as “abnormally dry,” as of Sept. 1.
However, an official Drought Watch remains in effect for the D.C. region, and the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality hasn’t lifted the drought warning that’s been in place for Northern Virginia since January.
