Strong storms move out of Charlotte area Sunday. One person dead; outages, CLT delays drop
As a line of strong storms swept over the Charlotte area Sunday morning, thousands lost power, about 700 flights out of the airport were delayed and one person died — crushed in a pickup truck by a falling tree.
The National Weather Service early Sunday warned that tornadoes, hail and strong wind gusts could shower the Carolinas. The storms spread across “most of the eastern states,” the NWS said.
On Saturday, the same storm system had spawned tornadoes over Southern Plains and Lower Mississippi Valley. A high school student died after a tree fell on a home in Natchez, Mississippi, CNN reported, and another person died where a tornado touched down in northern Brazoria County, Texas.
At about 10 a.m. Sunday, as bands of storms moved north of Charlotte, a fallen tree had killed one person in a truck in Iredell County, authorities said. The victim was identified as Matthew Ronald Teeple, 70, of Cleveland.
The incident happened at approximately 10:10 a.m., the NC State Highway Patrol said, on NC 152 near Brumley Road during heavy rain. A 1979 Chevrolet pickup truck traveling south on NC 152 was struck by a falling tree
The storms had moved out of the Charlotte area and pushed eastward by 11 a.m. Sunday. But afternoon non-severe storms remained possible for the afternoon, the NWS said.
As of 2 p.m., 676 flights out of Charlotte Douglas International Airport have been delayed and more than 30 have been canceled, according to FlightAware.
Duke Energy reported about 20,000 outages in the region during the height of the storm. There were about 2,000 outages around Charlotte by 6:45 p.m.
Charlotte and NC tornado warnings
Mooresville, Gastonia, Huntersville, Cornelius and some communities in York County, South Carolina, were all under a tornado warning — meaning a tornado had been spotted — until 10 a.m. Sunday, the NWS said.
Mecklenburg and its surrounding counties were under a tornado watch — meaning weather conditions could create funnel clouds — until 1 p.m. Sunday. That included Alexander, Cabarrus, Catawba, Cleveland, Davie, Gaston, Iredell and Lincoln counties in North Carolina and York and Chester counties in South Carolina.
Radar indicated a funnel cloud was seen around 8:40 a.m. near the Clover and Sharon communities in York County, forecasters said. Clover is about a 31-mile drive southwest from uptown Charlotte.
As of 2 p.m. Sunday, there were no other reports of tornadoes in the Charlotte area.
Severe thunderstorms in Carolinas
Forecasters warned of 60 mph winds, pea-sized hail and the possibility of a tornado in the Charlotte area stretching from Monroe to Cedar Rock to north of Statesville to east of Cleveland until about 10:30 a.m.
In South Carolina, a severe thunderstorm warning covered Clover to Great Falls until about 9:30 a.m.
“A line of strong to severe thunderstorms will track across the western Carolina ... this morning into early this afternoon ahead of a strong cold front,” the NWS said.
“Damaging wind gusts will be the main hazard, but an isolated tornado cannot be ruled out. Additionally, moderate to heavy downpours may lead to isolated nuisance flooding, mainly along the Blue Ridge Escarpment.”
As much as 3 inches of rain could fall in the mountains through early afternoon Sunday and gusts of up to 50 mph may be recorded in high elevations, forecasters said.
Rough week for CLT passengers
Sunday’s weather-related delays at CLT airport were the latest in holiday-related problems. They hit at one of the busiest times of the year for one of the world’s busiest airports.
On Tuesday, the morning of Christmas Eve, the FAA ordered a one-hour ground stop of all American Airlines flights nationwide. The airline blamed a “vendor technical issue” for problems that caused the issue.
The airline apologized to customers. American accounts for nearly 90% of flight out of Charlotte Douglas.
Observer editor Adam Bell and reporter Joe Marusak contributed to this report
This story was originally published December 29, 2024 at 6:40 AM.