The National Weather Service cancelled a tornado warning Tuesday afternoon for parts of Fauquier, Rappahannock and Warren counties after meteorologists determined the tornado threat had diminished. The warning had been in effect until 5:30 p.m. for southwestern Rappahannock County.
That ended the immediate tornado threat, but not the storm itself. A Severe Thunderstorm Warning remained in effect, and a Severe Thunderstorm Watch was set to last until 10 p.m. Tuesday for portions of northwestern Virginia as severe thunderstorms continued to move through the region.
The cancellation mattered because the same weather system was still capable of producing large hail and damaging wind gusts. The National Weather Service also warned residents across much of the Washington metropolitan area to stay alert, a reminder that the danger had shifted rather than disappeared.
Earlier Tuesday, the agency had issued a Hazardous Weather Outlook for the I-95 corridor through central Maryland, Northern Virginia and the District of Columbia. That outlook covered Arlington, Alexandria, Falls Church, Fairfax County, Prince William County, Manassas, Manassas Park, Stafford County, Spotsylvania County and King George County, showing how wide the severe-weather setup had become even as the tornado risk eased in one pocket.
The friction in the forecast was plain: the tornado threat had weakened enough to cancel the warning, yet the broader storm still had enough force to keep other alerts alive. In northeastern Maryland, a Flood Watch remained in effect through late Tuesday evening, underscoring that this was still an active weather event, not a finished one.
For residents in the warned counties, the next question was no longer whether a tornado warning would continue. It was how long the severe thunderstorm threat would last, and whether the storms moving through Tuesday evening would stay confined to wind and hail or turn more disruptive before the night was over.
