Photo by wolfpackWX

Photo by wolfpackWX

The National Weather Service has confirmed that a tornado hit D.C. yesterday amidst a storm that also brought torrential rain and large hail to the city for several hours.

The tornado touched down at Joint Base Anacostia-Bolling in Southeast at 1:41 p.m., according to NWS, which also reports that a tornado hit Herdon, Virginia five minutes earlier.

The D.C. twister was the first to touch the city since 2001. Both tornadoes were rated weak at EF-0 with winds reportedly peaking between 60 to 70 miles per hour.

More than a dozen trees were ripped from the roots at Bolling, WTOP reports.

Less than a mile away on Stanton Road, fire officials helped residents last night who were displaced after winds blew the roof off an apartment building.

D.C. Fire and EMS officials also responded to a call after part of the roof came off at St. Aloysius Church, which sits on the campus Gonzaga College High School on North Capitol Street NW.

Gonzaga spokesperson Steve Langevin told DCist that everyone in the school sheltered in place when the storm hit the area. Administrators released students at their normal 2:45 p.m. dismissal time, while officials assessed the damages to the roof.

And a park ranger at the Jefferson Memorial captured gusty winds swirling across the Tidal Basin during the storm. While some people are dubbing it a tornado, National Park Service spokesperson Mike Litterst told DCist he’s saying it’s winds resulting from the severe storm until meteorologists determine otherwise.

Filed Under: Joint Base Anacostia-Bolling, severe storm, stanton road, storm, thunder storm, tornado, weather,