Portion of George Washington Parkway closed due to storm damage

WASHINGTON — The National Park Service is warning drivers to avoid the George Washington Parkway Monday morning. Weekend storms caused trees to fall into the road, closing portions of the parkway Sunday night into Monday morning. 

The National Park Service first warned of the closure on Sunday night around 9:30 p.m. The cleanup continues Monday. About seven miles of the George Washington Memorial Parkway was closed to commuters Monday morning.

The northern section of the parkway is closed from Spout Run Parkway to Interstate 495 with the exception of the northbound lanes from Route 123 to I-495, and the southbound lanes of the Spout Run Parkway are also closed as tree crews work to remove debris. 

Drivers in the area should follow U.S. Park Police direction and find alternate routes if possible. It is not known how long the closure will be in place. If you see a downed tree on the parkway, you're asked to contact Park Police at 202-610-7500.

Residents all across the DMV are still cleaning up from storms that ripped through the region early Saturday evening, leaving thousands without power, and possibly killing one Virginia man. 

It left many questioning what caused damaging winds in the D.C. region. Though some comments on these posts claimed tornadoes or a derecho caused those strong winds, WUSA9 meteorologists say that was not the case. 

Tornadoes were not detected during Saturday's storm. Just as important, the storm was also not classified as a derecho. That means that the thunderstorm winds were likely caused by downburst winds.