Over 180,000 FCPS students home three hours early on Monday due to a tornado watch issued by the National Weather Service (NWS). The tornado did not materialize by early afternoon as predicted; instead, a severe thunderstorm took its place, starting at 8:35 p.m.

FCPS announced the early dismissal on Sunday evening due to threats of severe weather conditions.

“I was kind of confused [at the announcement] because I was more used to the traditional two-hour early release,” junior Nubaid Khan said. ”So when I saw three-hour I was kind of blown off.”

The tornado watch issued by the NWS at 11:08 a.m. on Monday warned of a possible EF-2 tornado and wind gusts of 60 to 80 miles per hour. The watch stated, “Very strong and dangerous winds may cause downed trees/branches, localized power outages, and damage to homes and buildings.”

By 3:30 p.m., that tornado watch was canceled.

“The rain started around two to three hours after we left school,” Khan said. “The storms didn’t even actually get bad until nighttime, which is over eight hours past from that point. So in hindsight, it wasn’t really necessary.”

Compared to previous weather events, this one slightly pales in comparison.

“Not necessarily as much as I would have liked to have seen,” sophomore Tarek Elbehiry said. “It was a shame [to me] there wasn’t any weather.”

The storms did cause significant disruption in other locations across the D.C.-Maryland-Virginia area. Tornado warnings were also issued for parts of southern Maryland and Loudoun County. A ground stop was issued at Reagan National Airport, cancelling more than 200 flights due to dangerous conditions.

Then, at 8:30 p.m., a severe thunderstorm warning was put in place across Fairfax County, which lasted until 9:45 p.m. The storm has caused 4,200 power outages as of 10 p.m., according to Dominion Energy.

“It’s pretty bad for rain, but at the same time, it’s just rain,” Khan said. “We’re in Northern Virginia and it’s going to rain at some point.”