An area of showers and thunderstorms moved across Northern Virginia between 4:20 PM and 5:15 PM EDT. The strongest of these storms moved across Fairfax and Arlington Counties, producing severe wind gusts, small hail, frequent lightning, and very heavy downpours.
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Deaths and injuries are direct and indirect together, as the offices filed them. Damage is property and crops in the dollars of the year, not adjusted for inflation, and only where an office estimated it.
The episode as NWS LWX wrote it up.
An area of showers and thunderstorms moved across Northern Virginia between 4:20 PM and 5:15 PM EDT. The strongest of these storms moved across Fairfax and Arlington Counties, producing severe wind gusts, small hail, frequent lightning, and very heavy downpours. A localized area in Oakton, north of Interstate 66 and south of Courthouse Road and Oleander Avenue, received a microburst of wind over 70 MPH. The severe wind blew off the press box, damaged fences, equipment shelters, batting cages, and blew over goal posts at an athletic field at Oakton High School. Several trees and a shed on school property were also damaged. A couple of nearby houses lost a significant number of shingles, and one home had a window shutter blown off and an antenna bent. This storm moved into Eastern Fairfax County, the cities of Falls Church and Alexandria, and into Arlington County and downed several trees and power lines. One tree fell on an apartment complex on North Glebe Road and displaced several residents. Another tree brought down wires at Route 50 and Gallows Road, disrupting rush hour traffic. From 5:00 PM to 7:00 PM EDT, 1.3 inches of rain was reported. The downpours and clogged storm drains led to high water across the westbound lanes of Interstate 66 between the Roosevelt Bridge and Glebe Road, forcing authorites to reroute traffic. Around 22,000 customers across Northern Virginia lost power as a direct result of the storm.
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
5 thunderstorm wind. Local standard time, as filed.
Damage to high school press box, shed, and athletic equipment. Several trees downed in vicinity.
Trees downed on homes and power lines, concentrated in the Glebe Road area
Trees and power lines downed
Trees and power lines downed
Wind gust to 60 MPH at Reagan National Airport
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Virginia in 1999Every state in 1999This day in weather historyWarnings in Virginia, June 1999
NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database, compiled from the National Weather Service’s monthly Storm Data. Complete through 2026-06; NCEI adds each month about 75 days after it ends and revises past years a few times a year. Rebuilt 2026-09-24. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 5705368, 5705369, 5705371, 5705372, 5705370.