City of Fairfax issued the following announcement on July 30
Beginning on Monday, Aug. 2, the National Weather Service will activate a Wireless Emergency Alert (WEA) on mobile devices when a severe thunderstorm is deemed destructive.
NWS has determined criteria for a destructive threat is at least 2.75-inch diameter hail and/or 80 mph thunderstorm winds.
Thunderstorm safety information
Fairfax City Alerts reminds residents, business owners, and visitors that thunderstorms can bring heavy rains, strong winds, hail, lightning, and tornadoes. In the course of a few hours, a thunderstorm can cause flash flooding, downed trees/power lines, power outages, lightning-related damage to buildings and electrical equipment, tornado damage to buildings and infrastructure, hail damage to vehicles and buildings, and massive amount of debris on roads.
During a severe thunderstorm:
- Never drive through standing water.
- Avoid standing flood water, as it may be electrically charged from underground or downed power lines and may hide dangerous debris.
- Do not attempt to move downed power lines, trees, or other fallen objects.
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