Weather Aware: Tornado watch issued for Charlotte area ahead of potentially strong storms

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — The Charlotte area will need to be Weather Aware due to the threat of severe weather on Sunday. 

Two waves of storms will push across the Charlotte area on Sunday, bringing the threat of heavy rain, gusty winds, flooding and isolated tornadoes. 

A tornado watch is in effect until 1 p.m. for Alexander, Burke, Cabarrus, Catawba, Cleveland, Gaston, Iredell, Lincoln, Mecklenburg, Rowan, Rutherford and Union counties. Chester, Lancaster and York counties in South Carolina are also under a tornado watch until 1 p.m. 

The first round of heavy rain pushed through the Carolinas early Saturday with pulses of downpours throughout the region. 

The main event is going to be a strong front that will push into the area starting mid-morning. These storms could develop in the mountains as early as 5 a.m. and push closer to the Charlotte metro by 10 a.m. This first line of storms has the largest impact from gusty winds 60+ mph and heavy rain.

The flooding risk is highest in the mountains due to this quick-moving line, pushing the highest impact along and east of Charlotte. Regardless of severe thunderstorm status, everyone will experience gusty winds, heavy rain and localized flooding at times.

Latest trends are pointing to a smaller, second line of storms moving through the metro (mainly along and southeast of I-40) between 4 p.m. and 6 p.m. These will be much more isolated but if there’s enough storm fuel, an isolated tornado cannot be ruled out.

With heavy rain saturating the ground and gusty winds, there’s also a threat for isolated power outages. Please plan accordingly by charging your devices, having multiple ways to get warnings, and avoid traveling out and about if possible. If you have the free WCNC Charlotte mobile app downloaded to your phone with alerts turned on, you’ll get localized notifications when severe weather impacts you.

WCNC Charlotte caught up with travelers heading out of Charlotte Douglas International Airport for more holiday travel on Saturday. Some admitted they were facing problems even the night before the storm.

“Got delayed about two hours, two and a half I think, plus an hour layover is three hours,” Kasey Kane said. 

Many people opted to wait it out at the airport, including William “Catfish” Marston, who said he anticipated delays and planned ahead. 

“I’m still on vacation until Jan. 6, so I’m just cruising,” he said. “Riding waves.” 

Kane, however, said the delays meant he’d get home much later than expected. 

“We’re just going to be home around 12 or 1 in the morning,” he said. “We were originally going to be home around 10:30.” 

As of 5:30 a.m. Sunday, 200 delays were reported at Charlotte Douglas with nine cancellations. 

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