Aspen Hill, Kensington, Wheaton, Olney among hardest hit by power outages after Saturday's storm

Pepco crews staging at the 7-Eleven store
on River Road in Bethesda this morning

Over 10,000 Pepco customers remain without power this morning in Montgomery County, but that number is down about 60,000 from the height of last evening's thunderstorm damage. The weather event, and resulting tree and power line damage, has been one of the few significant tests for Pepco since the electric utility was acquired by Exelon in 2016. Yesterday's storm appeared deceptively routine for late summer, but spawned straight line winds in areas like North Bethesda and Rockville, and had some in Northwest Washington, D.C. reporting a tornado in their community.

Southwest Bethesda neighborhoods like Springfield, Sumner, Wood Acres, Bannockburn and Spring Hill are still experiencing significant power outages. Grid resiliency issues reared their head again in the Westbard area long after skies had cleared Saturday night. Residents there who were fortunate enough to retain power after the storm last night report experiencing brownouts at 2:12 AM and 4:32 AM. The 4:32 AM brownout was an extended one, as after a split-second blackout that ravaged appliance motors, light fixtures were shimmering and flickering until all power was lost around 4:45 AM. Power was then restored around 4:48 AM. Interestingly, both brownout episodes reported seem to coincide with brand new power outages in the Westbard and Wood Acres/Searl Terrace areas, which the Pepco outage map indicates were reported at 2:15 AM (Searl Terrace) and 4:53 AM (Westbard Avenue). This morning's brownouts follow three sunny day brownouts in the Westbard area two weeks ago.

In North Bethesda, apartment building residents reported being in the dark Saturday night, and outages persist around Grosvenor, Garrett Park, Tilden Lane, Randolph Hills and the Randolph Road corridor this morning. Things aren't looking much better in the Twinbrook and Rollins Park areas of Rockville.

Aspen Hill is still smarting today with many outages. Fortunately for those without air conditioning, today's high will "only" be 85 degrees, instead of the 99 degree peak experienced last Friday. Outages also persist around Leisure World, Bel Pre Road, Wheaton, Kensington, Kemp Mill, Takoma Park, Hillandale, Colesville and Fairland. 

The storm appears to have cut a straight path across Montgomery Village, Goshen, and Laytonsville, judging from the large number of outages there. Outages remain in the Kentlands, Montgomery College-Germantown campus, Olney and Sandy Spring areas. 

Rare February severe storm hits Montgomery County

Damaged car on
Norbeck Road

Montgomery County is being pounded by severe storms this morning. A tornado was issued for parts of Gaithersburg and Germantown, as well as the northeast corner of the upcounty near the Howard and Carroll County borders. Flooding has been reported across the upcounty, as have fallen trees and power lines. The whole county is being hit by the unusual February summer-style storm, but the upcounty is being affected the most.

Power lines, tree down on
Darnestown Road at
White Ground Road

Montgomery County Fire and Rescue Services have received so many emergency calls that they are now operating under Condition Red, which means there may be longer response times, particularly for non-critical incidents. Violent weather and storm damage have also impacted parts of Poolesville, Rockville and Silver Spring, most notably in the Dawsonville, Norbeck Road and Layhill Road areas.

Route 109 is currently blocked between MD 355 and the I-270 overpass after a tree fell across the roadway. Some lanes are also blocked at Route 28 and Route 107. Trees are also reported down by MCFRS on Circle Gate Drive in Germantown.

Photos by Pete Piringer/MCFRS

STORMS KNOCK DOWN WIRES, KNOCK OUT POWER IN ASPEN HILL, GLENMONT, SILVER SPRING

Wires were reported down and power out in the vicinity of Bel Pre Road and Big Bear Court in Aspen Hill this evening. Pepco estimates restoration by 9:00 PM tonight there.

Three small outages near Georgia Avenue and Randolph Road in Glenmont are forecast to take a bit longer to fix, with power not expected back near Glenallen Avenue and Randolph until noon tomorrow. Another small outage in Kemp Mill has a 6:00 AM restoration time.

Two other small outages are currently reported in southern Wheaton, and west of Four Corners.

The largest outages are north of Leisure World around Norbeck Road and the ICC. I've also received a report of storm/wind damage within Leisure World.

STORMS CAUSE POWER OUTAGES IN SILVER SPRING, ASPEN HILL

A storm with particularly-violent lightning left many without power last night through this morning in eastern Montgomery County.

Affected areas include Woodside Park, Sligo Creek Parkway, White Oak, Fairland and the Bel Pre area of Aspen Hill. Pepco projects power being restored in all of these areas by later today, but some were still under evaluation as of 1:00 AM.

STORM DAMAGE UPDATE

Pepco crews were working hard on the Fourth of July, and had a big job on Georgia Avenue in downtown Wheaton. Two southbound lanes of Georgia were closed yesterday morning near the El Fogón de Wheaton restaurant, as workers replaced a dangling utility pole with a new one. The roar of generators and engines mixed with the metallic clang of a jackhammer as drivers maneuvered past the scene in the single southbound lane.

Traveling the area, I found a massive, uprooted tree collapsed on the property of the soon-to-be-demolished office building at Georgia and Blueridge Avenue in Wheaton. Further up in the Glenmont/Aspen Hill, remnants of a tree were being worked on in front of a Georgia Avenue house. I also saw what was left of at least one fallen tree along the Forest Glen on-ramp to the Capital Beltway in Silver Spring.

Fortunately, all traffic signals I encountered were operational, and power outages were greatly reduced last night, down from thousands when the July 3 storm hit.

Pepco truck on Georgia Avenue

A man prepares to be lifted
in a cherry picker bucket as
the leaning utility pole looms
over Georgia Avenue

Georgia dropped to two lanes,
and then to one at the
scene south of University Blvd.

The replacement pole awaited
installation on a flatbed Pepco
truck down the block

Down to one lane on
Georgia Avenue

SILVER SPRING/WHEATON/ASPEN HILL/GLENMONT POWER OUTAGE UPDATE

Dozens of customers are without power around Silver Spring and Wheaton tonight. Less than 5 Pepco customers are in the dark off Georgia Avenue just south of the Matthew Henson State Park in the Aspen Hill-Glenmont area. Other small outages are being reported off of Connecticut Avenue, south of Veirs Mill Road, in Montgomery Knolls, along New Hampshire Avenue near Notley Road, and in the Glen Haven and southern Kemp Mill areas of Wheaton. The greatest number of outages are in the Glenmont Forest vicinity.

Pepco's current estimate for restoration of power to these folks is midnight.