Brad Panovich update: Hurricane Ian close to making landfall in South Carolina

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — The eye of Hurricane Ian is getting close to making landfall near Georgetown, South Carolina, as the storm continues to drench the Carolinas with heavy rain, chief meteorologist Brad Panovich said. 

The first bands of rain and wind moved into the Charlotte metro area by 7 a.m., making for a messy commute in Charlotte. This also led to widespread flight cancellations and delays at Charlotte Douglas International Airport. 

More than 275 flights have been canceled at Charlotte Douglas International Airport due to the forecast. The first rain bands from Ian moved into the Charlotte area by 7 a.m. Friday. Panovich said Ian is expected to make landfall along the South Carolina coast early Friday afternoon, possibly by 2:30 p.m. 

According to FlightAware, 280 flights at Charlotte Douglas were canceled as of 9:40 a.m. More than two dozen flights were delayed. The first rain from Ian’s outer bands moved into the Charlotte area by 7 a.m. Friday, chief meteorologist Brad Panovich said. Ian is expected to make landfall along the South Carolina coast early Friday afternoon. 

The Charlotte area has seen wind gusts up to 35 mph Friday, with the worst of the storm coming Friday afternoon and evening. Panovich said the Charlotte metro is at risk of seeing the highest winds and heaviest rain any time after 2 p.m. 

“Between 4 p.m. and 10 p.m., maybe even 11, will be the worst of this weather,” Panovich said. “I would say 4 to midnight as this moves off to the north”

Nearly 1,000 Duke Energy customers were without power in the Charlotte area as of 12:20 p.m., according to Duke Energy’s outage map. WCNC Charlotte will continue to monitor outages and when customers can expect power to be restored.

Panovich said he is growing more concerned about the potential for flash flooding from Ian’s heavy rain and winds on the northwest side of the storm. This means the worst weather is expected in the Charlotte metro from around 4 p.m. until 10 p.m. Friday. 

“Why is this a big deal? That’s where we have flash flood warnings,” Panovich said. 

Charleston was already starting to flood by noon Friday, with WCNC Charlotte’s Vanessa Ruffes reporting knee-high floodwaters near the battery at Charleston Harbor. Low-lying areas were underwater, with officials encouraging people to seek higher ground due to the risk of flooding. 

Panovich said Charleston reported wind gusts as high as 56 mph as Ian moves closer to landfall. In Charlotte, the highest wind gusts have been around 30 mph, but the strongest gusts are still hours away from reaching the area.

Conditions deteriorated quickly along the South Carolina coast Friday morning. 

A Tropical Storm Warning is in effect for Anson, Cabarrus, Catawba, Chester, Chesterfield, Gaston Iredell, Lancaster, Lincoln, Mecklenburg, Richmond, Rowan, Stanly, Union and York counties in the Charlotte area ahead of Tropical Storm Ian. The warning is in effect until further notice.

Panovich said the rain feels more like a nor’easter than a tropical system, with Charlotte’s temperatures in the low-to-mid 50s Friday morning. That’s good news for the severe weather threat, which is low in the metro. 

“The storm is not going to get much stronger. If anything, it looks like a hybrid system,” Panovich said. “It’s probably more of a subtropical storm, which doesn’t really matter for impacts, but it does mean that it’s not going to get that much stronger because we don’t have thunderstorms near the center.”

Our biggest impacts locally will be gusty winds and heavy rain, mainly Friday night through Saturday morning. Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools announced all schools are remote Friday out of an abundance of caution. CMS joined several other districts in the Charlotte area that switched to remote learning Friday due to the forecast.

RELATED: Complete list of school closings & delays due to Ian

Friday is a Weather Aware Day. Any time a person sees the Weather Aware label on the forecast or on social media, they know it’s about their personal safety, their family’s safety and protecting their property. 

Beyond the typical severe weather, there are dangerous heat waves, record-breaking cold snaps or even hazardous winds that could impact people’s safety. Those instances would cause WCNC Charlotte’s Weather Team to tell everyone they should be Weather Aware.

There is some good news, and that’s a low threat of severe weather. Panovich says the cool air has drastically reduced the chance of tornadoes, although there’s still a risk in eastern North Carolina. 

“The threat for severe weather is pretty minimal,” he said. “You can see that off to the east, if we’re going to see tornadoes, it’s going to be in the eastern part of the state.”

Ian is now a Category 1 hurricane as it moves toward the South Carolina coast, where it will come ashore Friday, bringing with it storm surge on the coast and heavy rainfall and strong winds in other parts of the state.

Panovich said the worst of the weather in the Charlotte region will be on Friday and Friday night. Friday will bring heavy rain and gusty winds. The worst weather will begin on the Carolina coast Thursday night, with high winds, storm surge and heavy rain. 

The heaviest rain and strongest winds will move into the Charlotte area around 6 p.m. with gusts up to 50 mph possible, Panovich said. 

The storm will move through the Piedmont fairly quickly Friday night, which is good news for any flooding. The mountains and foothills of North Carolina will be at a greater risk of flooding as the rain lingers on Saturday. Panovich said the flash flood risk is pretty significant, especially in the mountains where the runoff will be moving quickly. 

Panovich said there could be flash flooding in North Carolina cities across the area, including Charlotte, Concord, Gastonia, Hickory and Huntersville as Ian drenches the Carolinas. Fortunately, it’s moving quickly for most of the Charlotte metro. 

“Saturday afternoon is looking much better,” Panovich said. “It’s probably going to be windy with some isolated showers but not too bad.”

North Carolina mountains: 4-7 inches
Charlotte metro: 3-5 inches

Sunday should be a much better day in the Charlotte area, which is good news for the Panthers game on Sunday at Bank of America Stadium.

Regardless of whether Ian is classified as a hurricane, tropical storm or depression, the impacts from the storm in the Carolinas will remain the same.

Rainfall amounts upwards of 8 inches are possible in the Carolinas. In Charlotte, rain totals are likely between 3-5 inches. Upwards of 7 inches are possible across the North Carolina foothills and mountains.

Winds will gust as high as 50 mph in the North Carolina mountains. The strongest wind gusts in Charlotte are expected to be between 40-45 mph.

Along the coast, storm surge totals could reach 5 feet in places like Charleston.

 🌩️ If you like weather, watch Brad Panovich and the WCNC Charlotte Weather Team on their YouTube channel, Weather IQ. 🎥

Brad Panovich and the WCNC Charlotte weather team will provide updates on Ian throughout the weekend.

Receive severe weather alerts straight to your phone by downloading the WCNC Charlotte app, where you can also send the team photos and videos of the storm as it is safe to do so.

Brad and the team will have expanded, live-streaming coverage of the storm, which you can watch for free on the WCNC Charlotte phone app, the WCNC+ apps for Roku and Amazon Fire, YouTube, and on WCNC.com.