Tornado warnings issued as severe storms near Charlotte area
Tornado warnings were issued for Burke, Caldwell and McDowell counties Wednesday night as severe storms neared the Charlotte area.
Nearly 1,000 Duke Energy customers in Catawba County were without power at 8:30 p.m., according to the company’s outage map.
The National Weather Service later removed the tornado warnings for Burke and McDowell counties, but the warning remained for Caldwell County until 8:45 p.m.
At 8:30 p.m., the NWS issued a tornado watch until midnight for counties to the west and north of Mecklenburg, including Gaston, Lincoln, Cleveland, Iredell and Catawba and counties into Virginia.
A couple of tornadoes, along with quarter-size hail and gusts up to 70 mph are possible, according to the watch.
A tornado watch means a twister is possible, while a warning means one is expected, according to the NWS.
Thunderstorms with straight-line winds could spawn tornadoes, National Weather Service meteorologists warned Wednesday afternoon.
“A few of these storms could become severe, with damaging winds and a brief tornado possible,” forecasters in the NWS office in Greer, S.C., said in a hazardous weather outlook bulletin at 5:30 a.m. Wednesday.
“Locally heavy rainfall is possible as well, and isolated flooding could result,” according to the bulletin.
The first batch of rain that moved into the region Wednesday morning lasted until about 4:30 p.m., when clouds briefly cleared in some areas to allow in some sun.
Showers and thunderstorms were then expected to redevelop, with storms expected to be far more severe than any that formed in the first batch of rain, NWS meteorologist Robbie Munroe told The Charlotte Observer.
“The big question is what happens behind the first wave,” Munroe said, referring to the first wave of showers that stretched from the mountains to Charlotte through early afternoon.
NWS radar images indicated the brunt of the storms could strike Rock Hill and Charlotte by about 7 p.m., with another round of storms in Charlotte at 9 p.m.
Also known as microbursts, straight-line winds are any winds in a thunderstorm “not associated with rotation,” or tornadic winds, according to the National Severe Storms Laboratory.
Straight-line winds form when colder air in a thunderstorm hits the ground and “rolls” out, sometimes for miles, according to the NWS. Such winds can be stronger than tornadoes, weather service officials said.
As of 2 p.m. Wednesday, 82 flight delays were reported at Charlotte Douglas International Airport.
Charlotte has a 90% chance of showers through the afternoon and evening, according to the NWS forecast at 2 p.m. Wednesday. Gusts could reach 30 mph at Charlotte’s airport, the forecast showed.
Charlotte has a 30% chance of showers on Thursday, mainly before noon, followed by sunny to mostly sunny skies through Monday and partly sunny skies next Tuesday, according to the NWS.
NWS forecasters predict highs near 71 Wednesday, 68 Thursday, 65 Friday, 61 Saturday, 60 Sunday, 68 Monday and 74 next Tuesday.
This story was originally published March 22, 2022 at 11:09 AM.