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FORECAST: Moderate severe weather chances now forecasted for Charlotte area
WCNC Staff, Brad Panovich, Chris Mulcahy, Larry Sprinkle, Iisha Scott
12:41 PM EST March 6, 2019
2:17 PM EDT March 27, 2021
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Today:
This morning started off warm and muggy and that will translate to storm fuel this afternoon. Most of us will stay dry until about the middle of the afternoon. The severe window really opens up from 3PM until sunset. Scattered thunderstorms could turn severe and even rotate. Damaging winds, large hail and an isolated tornado are all possible. Storms should be fairly quick moving but wll produce enough heavy rain to warrant some flooding concerns.
This Evening:
Storms will continue to be scattered across the region and will linger overnight. Thunder and lightning will still be prevalent into the early morning hours before burning off before sunrise Sunday. Your severe potential will also decrease hour by hour after sunset.
We will start off dry in the morning and this is the best time to get stuff done outside. We will start off warm and mild again which will elevate our storm fuel once again. The main culprit for Saturday’s weather is a warm front but Sunday’s is from a cold front. This should be a quick moving event which will limit some flooding. But any rain at this point will lead to more problems due to how saturated our soils are.
NOTE: Downed trees could be a huge issue due to how wet the ground is!
Damaging straight-line winds are the largest threat. They should arrive by the early afternoon along a line that could bow (a bow echo) meaning that severe winds will be driving the storm forward anywhere from 45-55 mph likely. These storms should be out of the area by the late afternoon and all lingering rain will be done by the early evening.
Next week:
Sunny and much cooler with highs only in the low to mid-60s. The cool air sticks around Tuesday as we remain in the 60s. In the middle of the week, we see a brief warm-up ahead of the next cold front. So rain chance spike back up Wednesday with highs in the low to kid-70s.
The end of the week and into the first weekend of April and major cool down. Highs will only be in the 50s and morning low temperatures could briefly drop to the low 30s. Friday and Saturday morning we could even see a frost or freeze.