Severe Thunderstorm Watch in Effect for D.C. Area

A severe thunder storm watch is in effect for the Washington area until 9 p.m. as a strong line of storms moves southwest from southern Pennsylvania.

The predicted evening storms, which follow an earlier band this afternoon that deposited about a quarter inch of rain, are expected to produce lightning, heavy rain and gusty winds.

The forecast was a repeat of yesterday's evening rain squall. Lightning from that storm struck twice, igniting fires at a shopping center in Capitol Heights and at a condominium complex in Herndon.

Prince George's County fire officials said lightning struck a strip mall in the 5300 block of Sheriff Road inside the District line at about 6 p.m. yesterday. The three-alarm fire started in a laundromat and spread to a clothing store, a carry-out restaurant and a barber shop. Investigators estimated damages to the mall at $750,000.

No injuries were reported.

Fire officials in Fairfax County said a lightning strike caused a two-alarm fire that displaced two people in Herndon. The fire broke out shortly after 9 p.m. in what Fairfax County Fire and Rescue Department spokesman Dan Schmidt called a "cluster condominium."

The initial strike, he said, was on the roof above a vacant condominium unit, but the common roof covered three units. Firefighters evacuated residents of the adjoining units.

No injuries were reported, although a firefighter was transported to Reston Hospital Center with non-life-threatening injuries.

Damage to the condominium unit was estimated at $200,000.