‘Strong to severe’ storms forecast for parts of Charlotte region, NWS warns
The Charlotte region faces “strong to severe” storms with large hail and potentially damaging gusts Friday, although the chances in metro Charlotte remained slight Friday morning, National Weather Service meteorologists said.
Severe weather could develop ahead of a cold front Friday afternoon and evening, NWS forecasters in the Greer, South Carolina, said on Twitter Friday morning.
“Any storm that does become severe will mainly have a damaging wind threat,” according to the post.
Just after 5:30 p.m. Friday, Winston-Salem station WXII posted citizen video of large hail dumping on the Ronda area of Wilkes County in the N.C. Blue Ridge mountains.
Flooding threat
Heavy downpours and lightning could accompany the storms in Mecklenburg and surrounding counties, Upstate South Carolina and the North Carolina Foothills, NWS meteorologists said in a hazardous weather bulletin.
Storms have battered the region for weeks and spawned an 80-mph tornado over Lake Norman that crossed Interstate 77 and narrowly missed Mooresville Middle School on Saturday, April 22.
April has already produced so much rain that parts of the region, including western Cabarrus County and eastern Gaston County, were under flood warnings Friday.
The NWS removed its warning for Cabarrus County Friday afternoon, but a similar warning is in effect until Saturday afternoon for the South Fork River in eastern Gaston County.
“As the river rises to near 11 feet, floodwaters will cover Riverside Park in Cramerton and inundate Goat Island Park,” NWS forecasters predicted in the warning.
“Flood waters will approach Riverside Drive near 5th and 6th streets in Cramerton and may also approach homes along Catawba Run Road,” according to the alert.
Charlotte forecast
Showers are likely in Charlotte Saturday night into Sunday, while a much drier weather pattern is predicted late Sunday through at least Wednesday, according to the NWS office.
Highs are expected to range from 78 Friday to 80 Saturday, 72 Sunday, 67 Monday, 71 Tuesday and Wednesday, 74 Thursday and 76 Friday, according to the NWS Charlotte forecast at 4 p.m. Friday.
Rain, rain, go away. Come again another day. To say we got a bit of rain over the last 24 hours would be bit of an understatement. Some places in the Piedmont got over 5 inches! We have a chance again today for showers so keep the umbrella handy!#scwx #ncwx #gawx pic.twitter.com/jU4uf3mo3x
— NWS GSP (@NWSGSP) April 28, 2023
