Severe storms forecast for Charlotte area after latest string of tornadoes confirmed
A day after confirming the latest in a string of tornadoes in the Carolinas, National Weather Service meteorologists on Saturday warned of a bout of severe storms ahead for the Charlotte area and other parts of the state.
Saturday morning, the NWS office in Greer, South Carolina, warned of severe weather possibly rumbling into the Charlotte area, upstate South Carolina and much of the N.C. foothills and mountains Tuesday into Wednesday.
“A few strong to severe storms may be possible, as well,” according to an NWS hazardous weather outlook bulletin.
A team from the NWS office in Raleigh on Friday surveyed damage from severe storms and confirmed an EF-2 tornado with 120-mph winds carved a 7.6-mile path through southern Stanly and northwest Anson counties Thursday afternoon.
No one was hurt, according to the NWS.
Home, chicken farm damage
After touching down about a mile southeast of Burnsville, the tornado first tore a tin roof off an agricultural building, according to an NWS public information statement Friday night.
The worst damage occurred 1 1/2 miles east-northeast of Burnsville in Anson County, the team reported.
The tornado shifted a brick home off its foundation, blew out several exterior walls of the home and ripped at least half the roof off, the team reported.
The storm also extensively damaged a chicken farm before lifting away 1 1/2 miles southeast of Cottonville in Stanly County, according to the statement.
NWS investigators thanked the Anson and Stanly county emergency management agencies and N.C. Emergency Management for help gathering data and assisting the storm survey.
An EF-2 is third on the Enhanced Fujita Scale of six tornado rankings for wind-speed and damage.
Other Carolina tornadoes
Earlier Friday, the NWS Raleigh office confirmed a “brief and fast moving” EF-1 tornado touched down near Research Triangle Park on Thursday, the News & Observer reported.
On Wednesday night, March 23, a tornado touched down in Alexander County during severe thunderstorms that swept across the western Carolinas, the NWS confirmed.
Two other tornadoes were previously confirmed in Pickens County, South Carolina, west of Greenville, from the same storm system that stayed unexpectedly just to the west and northwest of Mecklenburg, according to the NWS office in Greer.
Charlotte severe-weather threat
The NWS warned severe weather could strike much of both North and South Carolina in the coming week.
“Widespread rain, with embedded thunderstorms is expected across the area,” NWS meteorologists said in a hazardous weather outlook bulletin.
“Locally, heavy rainfall and isolated flooding may occur, especially near the southern Blue Ridge Escarpment,” according to the alert. “A few strong to severe storms may be possible, as well.”
Charlotte has a 70% chance of showers during the day Tuesday and a 90% chance at night, according to the NWS Charlotte forecast at 3 p.m. Saturday.
Sunday and Monday should be sunny, with predicated highs of 69 and 72 degrees. Highs of 73, 80 and 74 are forecast Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday.
Then a cold front is expected to move in, dropping highs to 63 Friday and 60 on Saturday, the forecast shows.