Photography: Stormy Scenes, Slow Traffic

Lightning strikes Fairfax, Va., at 7:11 p.m. Tuesday evening.

Severe thunderstorms moved into the Washington area Tuesday evening, accompanied by vivid lightning, heavy rain and strong winds. I was in Fairfax, Va., when the storms approached and I captured a few images of the storm to the west of the city. I then did a long, traffic-snarled storm chase east to D.C. in an attempt to get more photos.

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The storm is illuminated with lightning in Fairfax, Va .

Storm chases can get ugly at times. In the Midwest, storm chasers worry about flying debris, dangerous winds and hail. In our area, I usually just worry about the traffic. On Tuesday evening, I decided to chase the storm east on I-66 to try to get more photos and I ultimately got caught in a traffic jam.

A wide view of the storm over the western suburbs at 5:54 p.m.

A jet flies around the storm as it approaches Fairfax.

To make matters worse, my exit was closed due to an accident. When I finally arrived, I was rewarded with one baby lightning bolt photo next to the Jefferson.

This is possibly the smallest lightning bolt that I've ever posted on this site, but since the Jefferson Memorial looked cool I decided to post it anyway.

Oh well, at least it was fun, before and after the traffic jam part. One day, I'll have to go to the Midwest to experience what it's like to storm chase at the speed limit, or even higher.