In end-times-are-near news, the National Weather Service announced that two tornados touched down in Washington DC on Thursday, including a EF-0 twister at the Tidal Basin.
The Tidal Basin tornado, which was estimated to have 60-70 MPH winds, destroyed several cherry trees. The storm was captured on video by the National Park Service’s Carlos De La Torre, who recorded the twister from the steps of the Jefferson Memorial.
Video
A ranger at the Jefferson Mem shot this afternoon's storm passing over the Tidal Basin before uprooting several trees on the far shore. pic.twitter.com/iYDavq6poO
— National Mall NPS (@NationalMallNPS) April 7, 2017
Here’s another view from several miles away.
Video of likely tornado that downed cherry trees at Tidal Basin & hit H St. Corridor. More info: https://t.co/TDJ1izacA5 Video by Ryan Lyk pic.twitter.com/bgIeIQxpVf
— Capital Weather Gang (@capitalweather) April 7, 2017
The tornado also uprooted this large Elm tree.
WJLA has the full story.
The tornado’s path began in Arlington, Virginia, near the Capitals training facility, and passed through DC, breaking up 4.5 miles later. The tornado traveled over the National Mall and the Hoover Building.
National Weather Service Baltimore/Washington has confirmed an EF-0 Tornado that tracked from Arlington, VA into Washington, DC on April 6th pic.twitter.com/vlNcpQwdjF
— NWS DC/Baltimore (@NWS_BaltWash) April 7, 2017
According to the Capital Weather Gang, tornados inside the district are extremely rare. There have only been two or three tornados spawned in DC since 1950.
One was very brief in 1995, knocking down a few trees near the Potomac. In 2001, in the same storm that dropped the F3 tornado on College Park, two separate tornadoes may have affected the city. A weak tornado crossed from near the Pentagon into western parts of the District. The second touched down near the D.C. line before moving into College Park, Md., where two people were killed. That fact is difficult to track down — the NWS database shows it touching down in D.C., but many records do not count it as a D.C. tornado.
It was just a week ago that talented photographer Taylor Winnik (the wife of Daniel Winnik) woke up before dawn to take photos of the Cherry Blossoms at sunrise.
Photos: @taylorwinnik
Even without the storms, the cherry blossoms have had a difficult time blooming this year with the unseasonably warm and bitterly cold weather.
The bizarre event follows another odd occurrence a day before. On Wednesday, the Capitals and Wizards won division titles in the same year for first time in the franchises’ histories.
Over the next few weeks, if it starts literally raining cats and dogs and a fat lady starts singing, I’m going to take this tornado as a sign of good things yet to come. Maybe another cylinder-shaped object will land in the district in June.
Headline photo: Carlos De La Torre
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