Strong to severe storms and tornadoes possible Christmas Eve

By WRAL Severe Weather Center

Raleigh, N.C. — To top off 2020, the Triangle could see severe weather, isolated tornados and damaging winds on Christmas Eve.

The Triangle is under a Level 1 risk for storms and counties east of Raleigh are under a Level 2 risk for severe storms on Thursday. The greatest threat for our area is damaging wind gusts during the storms.

The Triangle could see some “supercells,” or rotating thunderstorms on Christmas Eve, while eastern counties and the coast have a greater potential for tornados.

While Christmas Eve morning won’t see considerable rain, storms are most likely in the afternoon, around 3 or 4 p.m. Steady rain could continue into the evening and Christmas Day is forecast to start with some showers, but the day will be mainly dry.

Thursday will be warmer, with temperatures in the the upper 50s to mid 60s. Fayetteville, Clinton and Goldsboro will be a mild 67 degrees in the afternoon.

Overnight Christmas Eve, temperatures will drop. At around midnight, it will be 30 degrees across the Triangle. Rain is likely Christmas morning but should taper off well before lunchtime. Temperatures will get colder throughout the day, and Christmas night, lows will hover around 20 degrees.

Backing up, it will be a quiet, dry week up until Christmas Eve. Wednesday will be an average winter day, with highs in the mid 50s and plenty of sunshine. The night will be clear and cold for any last-minute Christmas shopping.

Like Christmas, the weekend will be very cold, with highs in the mid 40s. Unfortunately, chances are very slim for snow, even with the cold weather this year. If you’re planning to spend the holiday in the mountains, the possibility of snow is much greater with a 40 percent chance between Tuesday and Christmas.