In a relatively uncommon occurrence for the region, a widespread downpour of large hail impacted parts of the District and Loudoun, Fairfax and Prince George’s counties Monday afternoon, as a severe thunderstorm storm raced east and southeast across the area. Readers captured numerous photos and videos of the hail, while three-dimensional radar imagery detailed a stunning view of the storm’s inner workings.
Washington, D.C
Here’s why there was a downpour of large hail in the D.C. area on Monday
Dozens of severe-hail reports were logged by the National Weather Service. Hail that is about one inch in diameter, or roughly the size of a quarter or larger, is considered severe with the potential for damage. Hail as big as golf balls — which are 1.68 inches in diameter and more likely to leave dents in vehicles — was reported near Brambleton in southeast Loudoun County. Another storm also tossed large hailstones to the north, in Montgomery County.
Significant hail days are not terribly common around Washington, but when they happen, it is often during the spring before peak thunderstorm season arrives. This is because of the combination of strengthening spring sunshine, which creates strong currents of rising air in the lower atmosphere, and a lingering winter chill at the mid-levels, plus stronger jet stream winds. These factors allow spheres of ice to rapidly grow within bubbling clouds.
One striking aspect about yesterday’s “hailers” is that they developed over the D.C. region less than 24 hours after a similar widespread outbreak of severe hail-producing thunderstorms across north-central Pennsylvania on Sunday afternoon. It was the same weather front, but a different atmospheric disturbance along it, that triggered Monday’s hail.
The conditions that produced severe hail
The strong contrast between warm, relatively humid air in the lower atmosphere and cold, dry air higher up was a key factor in promoting the explosive thunderstorm growth that produced the large hail, but it wasn’t the only aspect.
A strong belt of winds from the west associated with the jet stream — a river of racing winds aloft — created a change in both the direction and speed of winds with height, or wind shear, which is typically required for powerful thunderstorms to develop.
The storm cells became powerful enough to keep growing hailstones suspended in the air, allowing them to swell to large sizes before falling to the ground. The longest-lived of the Monday storms qualified as supercells, at least at times. Supercells are characterized by strong and stable upward currents of air that persist for up to hours at a time. They are the types of storms most likely to produce severe hail and other hazards such as large tornadoes.
The swath of hail from southern Loudoun County to southern Prince George’s County seen on the image above was created by a single long-lived storm cell that is shown in the radar image below.
It had a very long track. The cell initiated northwest of Capon Bridge, W.Va., and pulsed up and down in severity. It appeared to have briefly generated hail over Winchester, Va., but then really got going over east-central Loudoun County, continuing in pulses through Fairfax County and southern D.C. and into Prince George’s County.
WTOP’s Dave Dildine reported cars suddenly parking under highway overpasses along the storm track, seeking refuge from the volley of large, potentially damaging hailstones. (As a brief aside, this is not advised for many reasons, including increased risk of accidents).
The radar image below, created with computer software that depicts the three-dimensional structure of the storm, shows intense precipitation lofted into freezing air above as the hail-generating supercell moved across Arlington. It is essentially a CT scan revealing the vertical structure of the storm, which towered to 45,000 feet, using microwave energy. This is shown in the figure below, as the hail-generating supercell was working across Arlington.
In this case, the mushroom-shaped inner core punches high up into the atmosphere like a fist. The air in that core was probably rising at speeds of 40 to 50 mph or faster.
The whole cloud is leaning, or tilting, because of the influence of the shearing winds. The white region below 10,000 feet represents the dense curtain of hail falling out of the storm. Few images so strikingly depict the impact of shearing winds on the development of a severe storm cell.
Photos and videos shared by readers
Impressive imagery and harrowing videos of the hail poured in via social media, especially on Facebook. One person said they had “never seen one this intense!”
Below are a few of the photos and videos we received. In the first photo, streaks of hail can be seen falling from the boiling mass of clouds amid the shining afternoon sun.
Washington, D.C
What’s that noise? What you need to know about D.C. flyovers Friday and Saturday – WTOP News
Reagan National Airport will close for America 250 flyover rehearsals Friday and celebrations Saturday featuring the Thunderbirds, Blue Angels and more.
Reagan National Airport will close from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Friday for rehearsals ahead of this weekend’s America 250 celebrations, meaning people around D.C., Arlington and Alexandria may hear and see low-flying military aircraft.
According to Freedom 250 event organizers, Friday’s “Wings of Freedom” demonstrations over the National Mall will feature parachute teams, helicopters and military aircraft, including the U.S. Marine Corps’ MV-22 Osprey and F-35B, the Navy’s F-18F and F-35C, the Air Force’s F-22 Raptor, the Thunderbirds and a tri-bomber formation.
On Saturday, the FAA will close the airport from noon to midnight for the full celebration. All arrivals and departures at Reagan National are scheduled to end before noon.
Flyovers and demonstrations are scheduled throughout the afternoon and evening along the National Mall and Washington Monument grounds, including appearances by Air Force One, the Thunderbirds, Blue Angels, military aircraft fleet reviews, parachute demonstrations and B-2 stealth bombers.
Highlights include an Air Force One flyover scheduled for 7:03 p.m., a Thunderbirds demonstration beginning at 6:25 p.m., a tri-bomber formation at 6:02 p.m. and a stealth aircraft flyover at 7:38 p.m.
Friday’s schedule of flyovers and demonstration rehearsals along the National Mall and Washington Monument
- 10 a.m.: Golden Knights, Leap Frogs
- 10:15 a.m.: Army Helo Flyover
- 10:20 a.m.: USMC V-22 Osprey Demo
- 10:35 a.m.: USMC F-35B STOVL Demo
- 10:50 a.m.: USN F-18F Demo
- 11:10 a.m.: USN F-35C Demo Team
- 11:30 a.m.: USAF F-22 Raptor Demo
- 11:50 a.m.: NASA F-5s
- 12 p.m.: HUGE (1) Formation
- 12:05 p.m.: USAF Thunderbirds
- 12:55 p.m.: USAF Tri-Bomber
Saturday’s schedule of flyovers and demonstration along the National Mall and Washington Monument
- 1:14 p.m.: – NASA F-5 Flyover
- 1:24 p.m.: -NASA Fleet Review
- 1:44 p.m.: USCG Helo Flyover
- 1:54 p.m.: USCG Fixed Wing Flyover
- 2:09 p.m.: Golden Knights, Leap Frogs
- 2:29 p.m.: Army Helo Flyover
- 2:44 p.m.: USAF Fleet Review – Wave 1 – Heavies
- 2:54 p.m.: USAF Fleet Review – Wave 2 – AFSOC
- 3:04 p.m.: USAF Fleet Review – Wave 3 – Fighters
- 3:29 p.m.: Executive Rotary Wing Airlift
- 3:39 p.m.: USMC Fleet Review – Wave 1 – Rotary
- 3:49 p.m.: USMC Fleet Review – Wave 2 – Fixed Wing
- 3:59 p.m.: USN Fleet Review – Wave 1 – Rotary
- 4:09 p.m.: USN Fleet Review – Wave 2 – Fixed Wing
- 4:19 p.m.: USN Fleet Review – Wave 3 – Fighters
- 4:21 p.m.: USN F-18F Demonstration
- 4:59 p.m.: USN Blue Angels
- 5:26 p.m.: USMC MV-22 Osprey Demonstration
- 5:44 p.m.: USAF Fleet Review – Fighters
- 6:02 p.m.: USAF Tri-Bomber Formation
- 6:05 p.m.: USN F-35C Demonstration
- 6:25 p.m.: USAF Thunderbirds Demonstration
- 7:03 p.m.: Air Force One Flyover
- 7:07 p.m.: USAF Thunderbirds Delta Break
- 7:17 p.m.: HUGE 1 Flyover Led by the Newly Renovated Air Force One
- 7:38 p.m.: U.S. Stealth Airpower Flyover
- 7:39 p.m.: F-22 Raptor Demo
- 7:53 p.m.: F-22 Raptor in Afterburner
- 7:59 p.m.: B-1 Flyover
- 8:07 p.m.: B-1’s in Afterburner
- 8:11 p.m.: HUGE ONE Fly Over Review
- 8:22 p.m.: Golden Knights Twilight Jump
- 10:36 p.m.: B-1 Afterburner Night Pass
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An Air Force major was arrested in uniform on the steps of the Capitol after he called for the impeachment of President Donald Trump.
U.S. Capitol Police arrested Jason Watson, an active-duty service member, on Wednesday afternoon following remarks at a news conference where he said Trump and Vice President JD Vance should be removed from office.
The event was organized by the Removal Coalition, a group that lobbies members of Congress to impeach Trump, and attended by Rep. Al Green, D-Texas, who has repeatedly introduced articles of impeachment against Trump.
“I’m here with him because Rep. Green is the only member of Congress that has demonstrated the courage and conviction to … force a vote on articles of impeachment,” Watson said at the event. “If Congress followed his example, we could remove the entire Trump administration, but Congress remains unconvinced of the urgency and necessity for them to honor their oaths, so we must persuade them with our unrelenting, uncompromising civil resistance.”
Watson said he is not a Democrat and does not share policy positions with Green, who lost his re-election bid this year. Green’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Watson’s arrest.
Capitol Police said in a statement that it “is generally against the law for the public to demonstrate on the House Steps unless they are with a Member of Congress.”
“Yesterday afternoon, a man was escorted to the House Steps by a Member of Congress,” the statement said. “When the Member of Congress left the area, our officers gave the man lawful orders to stop the illegal demonstration or he would be arrested. The man refused our lawful orders.”
Capitol Police identified the man as Watson, adding that he was arrested on charges of “Crowding, Obstructing, and Incommoding” and that it is legal to protest in other spots on the Capitol grounds.
Service members are subject to stricter laws than the average citizen when it comes to protesting. The Uniform Code of Military Justice prohibits officers from “using contemptuous language towards the President, Vice president, the Secretaries of War and of a military department, Congress, and certain other officials,” according to an Air Force memo last year.
An Air Force spokesperson said in a statement Thursday: “Service members must comply with all laws, regulations and policies governing conduct and the wear of the uniform. All Department of the Air Force personnel are expected to uphold the highest standards of discipline and professionalism, both on and off duty.”
All service members, not just members of the Air Force, are prohibited from participating in “political activities” in uniform.
Watson’s criticism of Trump and Vance focused on the administration’s actions in Venezuela and Iran, calling them “an unconstitutional usurpation of Congress’ authority and a violation of the War Powers Clause.”
“These violations resulted in the deaths of 13 service members and injuries of hundreds more,” he said, referring to the number of U.S. military deaths tied to the Iran war. “For this, the president and vice president must be impeached, convicted and removed.”
Watson also called the administration’s immigration policies and tactics unconstitutional.
The Removal Coalition did not immediately respond to a request for comment, and Watson could not be reached.
President Donald Trump responded to criticism of a financial disclosure that listed $1.4 billion in crypto earnings largely driven by meme coins.
Berk Kutay Gökmen
02 July 2026•Update: 02 July 2026
US Defense Secretary Hegseth on Thursday faced protesters while hosting the Trump administration’s DC Safe and Beautiful Task Force ceremony in Washington DC.
During the ceremony at Meridian Hill Park, which saw the gathering of National Guardsmen, dozens of demonstrators gathered near the park to protest Hegseth.
Footage shows the demonstrators chanting a short distance away from where Hegseth and roughly 200 members of the National Guard had gathered in the park
In social media posts, one protester was seen holding a Palestinian flag, while another person was holding a sign that reads “arrest Hegseth.” The protesters want a “Free DC,” according to social media posts.
In his address to the National Guard, Hegseth said that “this background noise is perfect,” referring to the protests.
“It’s the sound of ingrates, of ingratitude—of people who are so blinded by ideology they can’t see law and order and common sense in front of them,” he said.
Meridian Hill Park was repaired by the National Park Service and the Interior Department as part of a larger initiative to restore and enhance federal parks and public spaces throughout the nation’s capital in preparation for America’s 250th anniversary, which falls on this Saturday, July 4.
Though such beautification projects are typically popular with the public, the current initiative has been controversial both for its choice of projects and the use of no-bid contracts to hire firms to do the work, sometimes with disappointing results.
The work aligns with President Donald Trump’s DC Safe and Beautiful Task Force, established by a March 2025 executive order that directs federal agencies to coordinate public safety and beautification efforts across Washington.
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