Tornado confirmed in Wednesday storm

Wednesday night’s severe storms included tornadoes in Culpeper and Fauquier counties, the National Weather Service announced Friday afternoon.

In addition, weather service investigators determined that tornados occurred in Stafford and Clarke counties and Calvert County, Md.

Here, the investigators confirmed a tornado touched down near Stevensburg about 7:15 p.m. Wednesday. The tornado traveled about 4 miles to Lignum before lifting, leaving a 150-yard-wide path of damage in its wake.

The storm then spawned another tornado in southern Fauquier County.

Central and northern Virginia, Maryland, Washington, D.C., and eastern areas of West Virginia were all affected by the system, where winds near 100 miles per hour winds damaged trees and buildings across the region.

Estimated wind gusts of nearly 70 miles per hour, hail and rain left trees down and power out in Culpeper for nearly six hours. About a dozen Rappahannock Electric Cooperative customers still were without power at 5:30 Friday afternoon, according to the company Web site.