Weather News

Hurricane Delta could bring heavy rain, tornadoes to NC. How close to Charlotte?

The remnants of Hurricane Delta could dump heavy rain and spawn tornadoes in North Carolina this weekend, with Charlotte expected to skirt the worst of the storm, a National Weather Service forecaster said.

The Charlotte area has “an outside chance” of tornadoes and can expect about half the amount of rain that could fall in parts of the N.C. foothills and mountains and upstate South Carolina, Bill Martin of the NWS office in Greer, S.C., said early Friday afternoon.

NWS meteorologists will have a better sense of the storm’s potential impact on the Charlotte region by Saturday morning, he said.

Saturday night and Sunday, Mecklenburg County could get an inch or two of rain, Iredell and Catawba counties 2 or 3 inches and higher elevations in the N.C. mountains 3 or 4 inches, according to Martin.

The heaviest rainfall across the Charlotte region, foothills and mountains is expected Saturday night into Sunday, according to an NWS hazardous weather outlook alert Friday morning.

On Friday, Delta was in southwest Louisiana, where the National Hurricane Center warned of “life-threatening storm surge.”

A couple rides a motorcycle along a flooded street after the passing of Hurricane Delta in Tizimin, Mexico, Wednesday, Oct. 7, 2020. Remnants of the storm could deliver heavy rain and tornadoes to North Carolina over the weekend, a National Weather Service forecaster said.
A couple rides a motorcycle along a flooded street after the passing of Hurricane Delta in Tizimin, Mexico, Wednesday, Oct. 7, 2020. Remnants of the storm could deliver heavy rain and tornadoes to North Carolina over the weekend, a National Weather Service forecaster said. Andres Kudacki AP

Charlotte has a 70% chance of rain Saturday and Sunday, with respective highs of 72 and 74 expected, according to the latest NWS forecast Frriday afternoon.

Joe Marusak
The Charlotte Observer
Joe Marusak has been a reporter for The Charlotte Observer since 1989 covering the people, municipalities and major news events of the region, and was a news bureau editor for the paper. He currently reports on breaking news. Support my work with a digital subscription
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