Storms knock out power to thousands

A long line of thunderstorms produced pockets of heavy rain, lightning and hail across the Washington area Thursday night, and thousands lost power. The thunderstorms were slow moving and "embedded" across some areas to the south and west of the District, said Kevin Witt, a National Weather Service meteorologist. Penny-size hail was reported in some areas of Prince William County. The storms were expected to bring similar patterns to Prince George's and Charles county areas early Friday morning, as the system swept eastward. In Northern Virginia, Dominion Power reported about 9,000 customers without power about midnight. Pepco reported about 1,500 outages in Montgomery County and another 500 in the District. -- Clarence Williams. SOURCE: Washington Post