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Strong storms, damaging winds possible Sunday
Gusty winds will impact the entire Charlotte area tomorrow, even after the storms are over.
CHARLOTTE, N.C. —
Overnight
Have the umbrellas handy! It’ll be cloudy and cool with spotty rain until midnight. Then, temperatures will begin to warm up ahead of an approaching cold front Sunday morning.
Sunday
Warm air advection (or temperatures warming ahead of a storm system) will allow for temperatures to soar to the low 60s before storms arrive in Charlotte on Sunday. This will provide plenty of instability and moisture, allowing for storms to become strong to even severe.
Storms will be quick moving, arriving in the mountains around 6 a.m. and leaving our region by 10 a.m. For the Charlotte metro, the timeframe is trimmed back to 7 a.m. to 9 a.m., so please keep this in mind as you plan your day.
As the front moves through the area, damaging wind gusts will be the main impact. But even after the storms are over, gusts near 45 – 55 mph will stick around through early afternoon. This is why a Wind Advisory remains in place for all of our region, including the entire states of North Carolina and South Carolina.
We call these wind gusts “non-thunderstorm winds” and in this case, they are so strong due to an elevated low-level jet. These winds are near the surface and when they’re stronger, damage potential is much higher. Folks should bring loose items inside and prepare now for fallen trees and isolated power outages most of Sunday.
On the back end of the storm system, snowflakes will impact the mountains Sunday night through early Monday.
Next Week
Monday is much colder, but sunny, with highs in the upper 40s. Tuesday is partly sunny with highs closer to average in the low-mid 50s.
Our midweek storm system is still trending toward a wintry mix in the Charlotte metro with snow in the mountains! This could trigger a Weather Impact Alert, but for now our team really wants our viewers to focus on the impact of the storms on Sunday.
Stay connected to the WCNC Charlotte Weather Team:
Contact Brad Panovich at bpanovich@wcnc.com or follow him on Facebook, X and Instagram.
Contact Larry Sprinkle at lsprinkle@wcnc.com and follow him on Facebook, X and Instagram.
Contact Chris Mulcahy at cmulcahy@wcnc.com and follow him on Facebook, X, Instagram, and TikTok.
Contact Brittany Van Voorhees at bvanvoorhe@wcnc.com and follow her on Facebook, X and Instagram.
Contact Bekah Birdsall at rbirdsall@wcnc.com and follow her on Facebook, X and Instagram.