Storms Zap Power in Parts of D.C. Area

Summer showed up in Washington on Saturday in all its facets and features -- 90-degree temperatures, thunderstorms, needed rain and less-welcome power outages.

After a dry spell earlier this month, rain fell Saturday for the second time in three days. And after many July days of below-normal temperatures, the mercury at Reagan National Airport reached 90 for the second time in four days.

The official high was 91 degrees, at 3:49 p.m. On Wednesday, it was 90. Before then, it had been that warm only five times all year.

In another typical July event, thunderstorms raked the region in the late afternoon and early evening. They came two days after the heaviest rains in weeks brought more than a half-inch to Reagan and just short of 1 1/2 inches to Dulles International Airport.

At times Saturday, at least 28,000 homes and businesses in Northern Virginia, the District and Maryland lost power.

Meanwhile, a preliminary National Weather Service report said a weak tornado struck early Friday in Dorchester County, Md. Chester and Melissa Martinek said two people were injured when a trailer rolled over with them inside.

"It flipped five times," Chester Martinek said.