Fairfax, Virginia – A powerful overnight storm battered Northern Virginia late on 3 September and into the early hours of 4 September 2026, bringing torrential rain and strong winds to Fairfax and Fair Lakes.

Video filmed by X user Zaf. from a residential complex shows heavy rain sweeping sideways across an apartment parking lot. Trees whip violently in the wind as streetlights and building lights cut through the spray and mist.

A later view from a doorway shows rain falling in sheets over another row of covered carports, with water pouring from the roof and a red vehicle visible below.

The National Weather Service in Sterling issued severe thunderstorm warnings for Fairfax, Arlington, Falls Church and Alexandria as a line of storms moved east after about 11:20 p.m. EDT.

Radar and reports recorded wind gusts near 60–70 mph, including 69 mph near Tysons and 64 mph at Reagan National.

Frequent lightning, downed trees and widespread power outages were reported. GOES-19 logged thousands of lightning flashes near Washington, D.C., between 11 p.m. and 1 a.m.

Dominion Energy reported tens of thousands of Northern Virginia customers without power overnight, including more than 16,000 in Fairfax County by mid-morning on 4 September.

Flash flooding and water rescues were also reported in Alexandria and parts of Fairfax and Arlington.

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