Cool, drier air spares Charlotte from brunt of Sally’s ‘torrential rains,’ NWS says
Heavy rains from the remnants of former Hurricane Sally relented in the Charlotte area Thursday afternoon, and the region is expected to escape the severe flooding that government forecasters feared.
Eastern North Carolina was a different story, with N.C. Emergency Management Director Mike Sprayberry warning at a 3 p.m. news conference of potential floods and tornadoes into the night.
In the Charlotte area, remnants of the former Category 2 hurricane met cool and drier air “that definitely helped weaken it,” meteorologist Clay Chaney of the NWS office in Greer, S.C., said.
The storm also moved faster than forecasters anticipated as it marched north from the Columbia, S.C., area, according to Chaney. A slow moving storm would have dumped far more rain, he said.
The risk of severe weather had been much higher just hours earlier when Sally was battering the Columbia, S.C., area, he said.
Still, with more rain from Sally’s remnants expected Thursday night, the Charlotte region remains under a flash flood watch until 8 a.m. Friday.
“Rainfall rates up to around an inch at times will support additional rainfall of one to three inches near the I-77 corridor with generally lesser amounts to the west,” NWS meteorologists said in a 2 p.m. flash-flood watch alert.
That amount of rain will likely cause flash flooding along creeks and in urban areas, NWS meteorologists said in the alert. “Isolated minor main stem river flooding is possible.”
About 1.5 inches to 2 inches had fallen in Mecklenburg from 2 p.m. Wednesday until 2 p.m. Thursday, according to the Charlotte-Mecklenburg real-time rain gauge map.
The National Hurricane Center warned earlier Thursday that 4 to 6 inches could fall in parts of Mecklenburg and surrounding counties, upstate South Carolina and the southern N.C. foothills and mountains, even up to 9 inches in some spots.
At 11 a.m., the York County Sheriff’s Office reported road and bridge flooding on Meadow Road and U.S. 321 in York and said the S.C. Highway Patrol was on scene.
At 12:30 p.m., heavy bands of rain moved north toward Charlotte and areas east of the city from York and Lancaster counties, Observer news partner WBTV reported.
Sally’s expected deluge led Union County Schools to cancel in-class learning, curbside meal locations and athletic practices Thursday. Learning continue remotely Thursday and Friday.
Just before 8 a.m., Matthews police reported a downed tree blocking all lanes of N.C. 51 at Courtney Lane. Use Interstate 485 or Trade Street as alternates. Workers cleared the tree and reopened the road by about 11 a.m.
Officials at Charlotte Douglas International Airport advised passengers to check with their airlines on possible flight delays.
Duke Energy lowers lake levels
At 11 a.m. Thursday, a tornado watch was posted for central and northeast South Carolina. Sally, by then a post-tropical depression, was still 115 miles southwest of Athens, Ga. Winds had dropped to 30 mph.
Duke Energy this week lowered lake levels across the Nantahala, Catawba, Yadkin and Keowee-Toxaway river basins “by aggressively moving water through these river systems,” according to a company statement Tuesday afternoon.
The company posted real-time updates about the storm’s impact on rivers and lakes on its website, duke-energy.com/lakes.
Fall-like weather is expected in Charlotte this weekend.
Saturday should be mostly cloudy with a high of 67. Sunday is forecast to be all sunshine, with a high of 66, according to the latest NWS forecast Thursday afternoon.
Staff Writer Bruce Henderson contributed.
This story was originally published September 17, 2020 at 8:27 AM.