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Tornado touches down briefly near Fairfax Co. high school

By Teta Alim

WASHINGTON — The National Weather Service confirmed Tuesday evening that an early morning tornado touched down for about a minute in the Lincolnia, Virginia, area.

The EF-0 tornado lasted from about 5:54 a.m. to 5:55 a.m. Tuesday, starting south of a softball field at Thomas Jefferson High School.

It damaged several trees, fences, light poles and two sheds, and even lofted a shipping container over 100 yards as it moved across the field, the weather service said.

The tornado’s estimated maximum wind speed was 70 mph, and it had a path length of about 0.25 miles.

The weather service had said there was a tornado warning around Lake Barcroft and Lincolnia between 5:54 a.m. and 6:15 a.m.

WTOP’s Dave Dildine said this tornado is the first since August 2017, and marks the end of the longest tornado-less stretch in the D.C. region since 2010, when the first tornado didn’t occur until Aug. 10 of that year.

On Aug. 11, 2017, the weather service confirmed that a tornado with winds up to 75 mph traveled for a bit over a mile, downing several trees along John Marshall Highway in Fauquier County.

WTOP’s Dave Dildine contributed to this report. 

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