Thunderstorms, damaging winds a threat for Sunday afternoon
Raleigh, N.C. — It’s been a hot, typical summer weekend. You may not feel it, but a not-so-cool cold front is moving in, which will cause us to have a Level 1 and 2 threat for severe weather on Sunday.
Some rain to cool us off is likely coming on Sunday to start the week off.
Sunday morning will be dry, but then around 4 p.m. there will likely be a chance of thunderstorms and rain in counties to the north and west of the state. In these storms, damaging wind speeds are a threat.
Winds from Kentucky and the west are going to move in, and bring with them storms. Western North Carolina is most affected by the damaging wind speeds later this afternoon. But also areas east of Raleigh, including Greensboro and Chatham County, are under a Level 2 warning for damaging wind speeds.
The threat for damaging winds is possible for central North Carolina all the way to the coast.
While we need to be on the look out for damaging winds, tornados are not threat for Sunday.
Sunday’s storms are likely to linger until Monday morning. The morning will have dry conditions, but then around 4 in the afternoon that’s when we will see these thunderstorms and winds.
“As we get into the afternoon, at 4 o’clock, we’ll see some scattered thunderstorms develop. Then it’ll turn quieter as we head into the second half of the evening,” WRAL meteorologist Aimee Wilmoth said.
On top of all that, the Sahara dust that’s moved into our area has created an air quality alert. It’s in effect for the entire viewing area from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. on Sunday. It is a code orange event, which means people with breathing problems may struggle when outside.
That also means Sunday night will be another beautiful night of sunsets.
There’s a chance of showers and possible thunderstorms all next week. Saturday, which is the Fourth of July, will see a 30% chance of showers.