Hurricane Matthew heads toward Carolinas coast; Charlotte may see heavy rain

The Charlotte area will enjoy several days of dry, unseasonably warm temperatures this week. But all that will change starting Friday because of Hurricane Matthew.

Rain and gusty winds could push into Charlotte and its eastern suburbs later Friday and Saturday, forecasters said.

The major Category 4 storm is currently wreaking havoc in the Caribbean.

“Friday is when the uncertainty (of the impact) increases exponentially” for the Charlotte region, National Weather Service meteorologist Justin Lane said.

The National Hurricane Center predicts Matthew will have top sustained winds of 105 to 110 mph when it reaches the Carolinas this weekend.

Lane noted that – as is always the case with hurricanes moving up the coast – there will be a sharp gradient inland between areas that get heavy and light rain. “It’s going to be a couple more days before we can start talking about potential impacts with any degree of confidence,” Lane said.

But some computer models showed more than 4 inches of rain falling in or near Charlotte later Friday and early Saturday.

For now, Tuesday through Thursday will see sun and temperatures hitting 80 on Tuesday and the upper 70s Wednesday and Thursday in the Charlotte area.

State of emergency

On Monday, Gov. Pat McCrory declared a State of Emergency for 66 counties in central and eastern North Carolina, from the coast to west of Winston-Salem. “I’m hoping this is a false alarm, but we can’t gamble,” McCrory said.

McCrory urged residents to make sure their home storm kits are fully stocked and that they’ve thought about where they would go if they need to evacuate. The state of emergency also lifts restrictions on weights for trucks carrying crops that are being harvested quickly before the storm.

Social media was full of reports Monday evening of farmers operating harvesting equipment with lights, apparently trying to gather crops before the storm arrives.

“We don’t want to have other crops ruined for the year,” McCrory said, noting that flooding last month already ruined some of the peanut crop in northeastern North Carolina.

The eastern part of the state has been hit by two heavy rain events in recent weeks, including the passage of Tropical Storm Hermine over the Labor Day weekend. McCrory noted that areas around Fayetteville and north of Albemarle Sound are still cleaning up after floods a few weeks ago.

Authorities in Carolinas coastal counties reported Tuesday morning that they are preparing to activate emergency operations. Typically, evacuations are ordered in storm- prone areas about 36 to 48 hours in advance of the storm’s arrival.

As the storm’s predicted track has been pushed westward, the forecast for Charlotte has changed.

The National Weather Service now calls for a 40 percent chance of rain in Charlotte from Friday until daybreak Saturday, ranging up to 50 percent for Union and Stanly counties to the east.

While forecasters stress that it will be another couple days before they have more confidence in the forecast, some of the computer models are beginning to show possible rainfall totals for the area. They range from about 1 inch (European model) to more than 4 inches (Global model).

Charlotte-Mecklenburg Emergency Management said Tuesday morning that it is monitoring the storm and its predicted path.

Officials also were ratcheting up preparations in South Carolina, with state transportation officials saying they were preparing fuel stocks. Gov. Nikki Haley is scheduled to travel to Vermont on Wednesday for a speech, but her office said they are reviewing those plans.

Hitting Haiti

The hurricane is being blamed for three deaths so far in the Caribbean.

It pounded the southwestern coast of Haiti on Tuesday, threatening a largely rural corner of the impoverished country with devastating storm conditions as it headed north toward Cuba and the eastern coast of Florida.

Rain from the dangerous Category 4 storm fell across Haiti before dawn Tuesday as the center of the storm moved directly across the tip of the southern peninsula.

That’s where many people live in shacks of wood and corrugated steel that stand little chance of withstanding the force of the system’s maximum sustained winds of 145 mph.

Matthew was also expected to bring 15-25 inches of rain, and up to 40 inches in isolated places, along with up to 10 feet of storm surge and battering waves, said Dennis Feltgen, a meteorologist and spokesman for the U.S. National Hurricane Center in Miami.

Matthew should weaken as it moves north but will still be a dangerous storm as it moves up the coast.

The Associated Press contributed

This story was originally published October 4, 2016 at 7:29 AM with the headline "Hurricane Matthew heads toward Carolinas coast; Charlotte may see heavy rain."