Wednesday afternoon storm updates

The situation: Showers and thunderstorms are tracking through the DC region from west to east this afternoon into early evening. The heaviest storms, with downpours and some gusty winds, should cross the Beltway area approximately 3 to 5 p.m.

3 p.m. update: The band of showers and thunderstorms, containing areas of heavy rain, is now moving east into Montgomery, Fairfax, and Prince William counties, and will continue east across the DMV the next couple of hours. It should already be exiting east of our region by about 6 p.m. For any given location, the rain shouldn't last much longer than about 1 to 1.5 hours as it comes through.