Afternoon storms, winds could cause isolated outages in Charlotte region, NWS says
Storms and winds could cause isolated power outages in the Charlotte area Wednesday afternoon — a midweek bump in an otherwise sunny and clear early summer week, a National Weather Service meteorologist said.
Light showers moved through Charlotte on Wednesday morning, and additional rain and storms are expected in the mid- to late afternoon, meteorologist Harry Gerapetritis of the NWS office in Greer, S.C., told The Charlotte Observer.
The storms will be strongest between 3 p.m. and 7 p.m., he said.
“That should be the most unstable period,” he said.
Charlotte could see a tenth of an inch of rain, but higher amounts are possible during thunderstorms, according to the NWS forecast. There is a 30% chance for rain during the day, but those odds increase to 50% by nighttime, the forecast said.
One “wrinkle” in the forecast is another round of showers and storms that will be moving into the North Carolina mountains from the west, Gerapetritis said. During the late evening hours, it is possible that some of the activity could survive east of the mountains overnight, he said.
“If anything survives that trip over the mountains, there could be another isolated shower overnight,” Gerapetritis said. ”That could end up being the strongest round of showers and storms.”
Winds gusts up to 50 or 60 mph are expected, and would be the “strongest threat” to generate isolated outages across Charlotte, according to Gerapetritis. The outages shouldn’t be widespread, he said.
The high on Wednesday is 87 degrees, and the low is 70 degrees, the forecast said.
Thursday, Friday and Sunday are expected to be mostly clear and sunny with highs above 80 degrees, according to the forecast.
Charlotte could see more rain on Saturday because there is 40% chance of showers, the forecast said.
This story was originally published June 8, 2022 at 10:52 AM.
