On this date in 2010, violent thunderstorms raked the D.C. area after temperatures soared to a scorching high of 99 degrees.
The storms unleashed “widespread gusts [of] 60-75 mph and isolated gusts to 90 mph across parts of Fairfax and Loudoun Counties in Virginia and Montgomery, northern Prince [George’s], Ann[e] Arundel and Charles counties in Maryland and in D.C.,” the National Weather Service wrote. “The storm resulted in 3 deaths from wind and one from lightning, widespread damage from downed trees and power lines, and loss of power to more than 300,000 customers.”
The Washington Post described it as “one of the most violent and destructive thunderstorms in years.” The storms affected a wide swath, stretching from eastern West Virginia to the Chesapeake Bay.
“Hundreds of trees were felled along the entire path of the squall line, power was knocked out to hundreds of thousands, and many roads were blocked,” the Weather Service wrote.
Here are other notables from this day:
- Average high: 90
- Average low: 73
- Record high: 100 (2016)
- Record low: 58 (1915)
- Record rainfall: 3.27 inches (1917)
