Firefighters in Prince George's County reported seeing a possible tornado touch down in the Clinton-Brandywine area.
Fire department spokesman Mark Brady said they reported witnessing what looked like a twister at about 2:15 p.m. Saturday.
Brady says there was a spike in the number of calls about downed trees and power lines in the area. However, no injuries or damage to buildings were reported.
The National Weather Service (web|news) issued a tornado watch for parts of Maryland and Virginia. The watch is effective until 9 p.m. Saturday for southern Maryland, Virginia and part of the eastern panhandle of West Virginia. The watch area is in a 100-mile wide band running from Staunton, Virginia, to Wallops, on the lower Eastern Shore of Virginia.
Forecasters said hail up to two inches in diameter and wind gusts up to 70 miles per hour were also possible in the watch area.
A tornado watch means conditions are favorable for tornadoes and severe thunderstorms. Severe thunderstorms can produce tornadoes with little or no advanced warning, so residents are urged to stay indoors until the storm passes. Dangerous lightning and hail have been reported with this storm and additional storms are forming behind the current storm.
Pepco reported several outages, including 3,548 in D.C., 1,521 in Montgomery County (web|news) and 26,051 in Prince George's County.
Dominion Power reported 29,109 outages and BGE Power has reported 203 outages in Anne Arundel County and 135 outages in Calvert County.
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