Tropical Storm Ida could bring rain, thunderstorms, wind to Charlotte this week
A weakening Tropical Storm Ida could still bring rain, severe thunderstorms and the possibility of tornadoes to the Charlotte area on Tuesday and Wednesday, the National Weather Service said Monday.
Western North Carolina will bear the brunt of the state’s impact, with up to 4 inches of rain expected. But the weather system will spill over into the Piedmont as well, with severe weather likely beginning Tuesday afternoon.
The chance of rain in Charlotte on Tuesday is 30%, forecasters say, but rises to 60% on Tuesday night with up to a half-inch of rain expected. Wednesday’s weather will cool to a high of about 83 but there will be an 80% chance of rain. The National Hurricane Center projects Charlotte will get no more than a total of about 1 inch of rain from Ida, which landed on the Louisiana coast Sunday as a powerful hurricane.
Winds in the Charlotte area are expected to reach 11 to 13 miles per hour on Wednesday, with gusts as high as 22 miles per hour.
Thunderstorms and rain will be coupled with the possibility of “a weak and brief tornado or two” on Tuesday in the N.C. Piedmont, northeast Georgia and upstate South Carolina, the weather service warned.
Ida, now downgraded to a tropical storm, made landfall on Sunday morning as a Category 4 hurricane in southern Louisiana, knocking out power to more than a million people and causing widespread property damage. At least one person has died as a result of the storm.
In a public advisory on Monday morning, the National Hurricane Center warned of continuing dangerous storm surges and flash floods in southern Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama. The storm is expected to gain speed Monday night and into Tuesday as it moves north over central and northeast Mississippi tonight and into the Tennessee Valley on Tuesday.
It is expected to reach the mid-Atlantic and Ohio Valley on Wednesday.
Ida could bring three to six inches of rain across the central and southern Appalachians on Tuesday and Wednesday, with isolated higher amounts. The Hurricane Center warned that the region could see “considerable flash flooding.”
This story was originally published August 30, 2021 at 11:52 AM with the headline "Tropical Storm Ida could bring rain, thunderstorms, wind to Charlotte this week."
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