Tornado Warning for Parts of Montgomery and Loudoun Counties: Take Cover Now

Update: The tornado warning has expired, but the threat of severe weather persists through about 9pm.




The National Weather Service in Sterling Virginia has issued a

* Tornado Warning for... 
central Montgomery County in central Maryland... 
east central Loudoun County in northern Virginia... 

* until 430 PM EDT

* at 402 PM EDT... National Weather Service Doppler radar indicated a
severe thunderstorm capable of producing a tornado near
Lansdowne... moving east at 40 mph.

* Locations impacted include... 
Poolesville... 
Boyds... 
North Potomac... 
Germantown... 
Gaithersburg... 
Montgomery Village... 
Rockville... 
Aspen Hill... 

Precautionary/preparedness actions... 

Take cover now. Move to an interior room on the lowest floor of a
sturdy building and avoid windows. If outdoors or in a Mobile home or
vehicle... move to the closest substantial shelter and protect
yourself from flying debris.

Pepco to Replace Live Trees with Storm-Proof Artificial Trees to Prevent Power Outages

The Potomac Electric Power Company (Pepco) announced today that it will be planting artificial, storm-proof trees throughout the District of Columbia and Montgomery County. According to Pepco, these artificial trees will be able to withstand heavy snowfalls, ice storms, and winds of up to 100 miles per hour. “We’re excited about the storm-proof tree initiative,” said Pepco’s arborist, Mary Conti. “These trees, which are composed of carbon nanofibers, are able to hold up against just about anything that nature can whip up. Replacing living trees with artificial trees will dramatically reduce the number of power outages in the Washington, DC area.”

Pepco plans to initially replace some 4,500 living trees with artificial trees. “None of these real trees has a life expectancy of more than 20 years,” Conti said. “Compare that to the Pepco trees that will last for at least a century.” The 4,500 trees that Pepco has targeted for replacement either intersect or overhang power lines. That alone should reduce the power outage rate by 75 percent, Pepco says. Eventually, Pepco plans to replace approximately 15,000 trees with these modern, indestructible artificial trees.

Pepco’s artificial tree project is in response to customer’s requests to have more reliable electricity.

Pepco, which already has considerable experience at cutting down trees, expects that it will take approximately eight months to replace the first batch of 4,500 trees. “When the next snowpocalypse strikes, we’ll just laugh at it,” Conti said.

Pepco pointed out that area residents will be impressed, even wowed, by these artificial trees, because they were created by the award-winning Italian design firm FioreNuovo. “We think that people will like our Pepco trees even more than actual trees,” Conti said.

Each tree will have three openings that lead to spacious hollows inside for squirrels, raccoons, birds and other critters to establish homes. “These are not just beautiful, but eco-friendly trees. I know that the squirrels will be very happy.” The upper leaves on the trees can be replaced with solar-cell coated leaves at a future date so that not only will we have fewer power outages, but the Pepco trees will actually generate more energy. “An ordinary tree can’t make electricity,” Conti pointed out. “Our trees are better than nature.”

The cut-down trees will be turned into firewood and given away to needy families, Pepco said.

There's more information about this on our companion email list, the Cleveland Park Listserv.

Good Morning: Leave Your Umbrella at Home Today

Replacing yesterday's rain is today's winds. Breezy, windy and all that: We'll see winds from the west blowing at between 14 and 19 miles per hour. The high will be about 61 degrees today.

The strongest wind ever recorded was in a F5 tornado in Oklahoma City in 1999: 318 miles per hour. That'll ruin your umbrella --and everything else-- quickly. The highest non-tornadic wind ever recorded happened in 1934 on the top of Mt. Washington in New Hampshire: 231 miles per hour.

Tornado Watch for DC Area Through 8 PM

The National Weather Service has just announced a tornado watch for the DC area through 8pm tonight. A watch means that conditions are right for the possible formation of tornadoes.

We may also get strong and possibly severe thunderstorms.  Here is the bulletin from the NWS.


URGENT - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 733
1215 PM EDT WED OCT 27 2010

THE NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WATCH FOR PORTIONS OF...DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA

EFFECTIVE THIS WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON AND EVENING FROM 1215 PM UNTIL 800 PM EDT.

TORNADOES...HAIL TO 1 INCH IN DIAMETER...THUNDERSTORM WIND GUSTS
TO 70 MPH...AND DANGEROUS LIGHTNING ARE POSSIBLE IN THESE AREAS.

THE TORNADO WATCH AREA IS APPROXIMATELY ALONG AND 65 STATUTE
MILES EAST AND WEST OF A LINE FROM 30 MILES WEST SOUTHWEST OF
SOUTH HILL VIRGINIA TO 30 MILES NORTHWEST OF ATLANTIC CITY NEW
JERSEY.  FOR A COMPLETE DEPICTION OF THE WATCH SEE THE ASSOCIATED WATCH OUTLINE UPDATE (WOUS64 KWNS WOU3).

A TORNADO WATCH MEANS CONDITIONS ARE FAVORABLE FOR
TORNADOES AND SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS IN AND CLOSE TO THE WATCH
AREA. PERSONS IN THESE AREAS SHOULD BE ON THE LOOKOUT FOR
THREATENING WEATHER CONDITIONS AND LISTEN FOR LATER STATEMENTS
AND POSSIBLE WARNINGS.

Tornado Watch Canceled: What the Heck Is a Tornado Watch Anyway?

The tornado watch for the District of Columbia has been canceled. But the forecast for heavy rains, flooding, and possible flash floods continues, so keep an eye to the sky.

What is a tornado watch anyway? Or a severe thunderstorm watch, or any "watch?"

A "watch" means that conditions are favorable for the formation of tornadoes or other severe weather. It means you should be on guard, with your emergency weather radio tuned in or your weather app for your smartphone ready and able to receive alerts, should the watch become a "warning."

A warning means that a tornado, severe thunderstorm, flash flood or other dangerous weather has been spotted. Warning actually means alert, because there's something really bad heading your way. A warning means that a tornado, for example, has been spotted on the ground or on radar. So if you hear "tornado warning," think "tornado alert!" and take appropriate precautions.

Severe thunderstorms, the kind that often down power lines, are thunderstorms that produce hail an inch in diameter and that have winds 58 miles per hour or greater.

Tornado Watch for DC Until 1pm

A tornado watch is in effect for the District of Columbia until 1pm.  This means that conditions are favorable for tornadoes. A flash flood warning is in effect for the area, too, as heavy rain continues

Here is status the of this watch from the National Weather Service.

TORNADO WATCH OUTLINE UPDATE FOR WT 688 NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK THU SEP 30 2010 

TORNADO WATCH 688 IS IN EFFECT UNTIL 100 PM EDT FOR THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS: DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA