Severe weather blows through Charlotte, evening storm still possible, NWS says
Storms blew through Charlotte with strong gusts, heavy rains and thunder and lightning Friday afternoon, and N.C. forecasters warned of possibly more severe weather into the evening.
NWS meteorologists removed a severe thunderstorm watch originally issued until 8 p.m. for Mecklenburg and surrounding counties
Still, at 4:35 p.m., the NWS issued an alertthat another “severe storm cannot be entirely ruled out through the early evening hours.”
The alert also covers the foothills region including Burke, Caldwell and Rutherford counties.
“Any storm that manages to become strong to severe could produce damaging wind gusts and large hail,” according to the NWS hazardous weather bulletin.
Outages, flight delays
No damage was immediately reported from the afternoon storms, and Duke Energy reported minimal outages in the Charlotte area. Nearly 1,900 customers were without electricity statewide at 5 p.m., according to the company outage map.
At least 399 flights were delayed at Charlotte Douglas International Airport by 5 p.m. Friday, and at least 91 were canceled, according to tracking site Flight Aware.com.
Earlier Friday afternoon, the NWS warned of a threat of tornadoes and ping pong ball-size hail in the Charlotte area.
“Widespread gusts up to 70 MPH likely,” NWS forecasters said on social media site X just before 1 p.m.
The watch area included Mecklenburg and surrounding counties and Upstate South Carolina, according to the NWS Storm Prediction Center in Norman, Oklahoma.
No tornadoes hit the region, according to the NWS.
The severe weather threat extended from Columbus, Georgia, to Charlotte, Hickory and Winston-Salem, according to NWS maps.
This story was originally published May 30, 2025 at 2:01 PM.