Tornado Watch issued for much of central North Carolina as storms move through

RALEIGH, N.C. (WTVD) — Several counties remained under a Tornado Warning as strong storms whipped through central North Carolina on Thursday afternoon and evening.

Tornado Warnings are in effect until 8:15 p.m. for Halifax County and 8:30 p.m. for Warren County.

Warnings for Durham and Orange counties expired on Thursday evening as the fierce storms moved quickly out of the area.

Cumberland and Harnett counties were under a Severe Thunderstorm Warning until 8:15 p.m. as the system moved east.

As of 7:30 p.m., fewer than 200 power outages had been reported in the Triangle. Just west of the Triangle — in the eastern Greensboro-Burlington area, 2,646 power outages were reported.

Much of central North Carolina’s risk for severe weather was downgraded Thursday morning, but severe weather is still likely throughout the region.

The National Weather Service removed the category 4 risk for the area. Now the region is under a level 3 threat. The severe threat will last through 8 or 9 p.m., Chief Meteorologist Chris Hohmann said Thursday afternoon.

“Just because you see it’s downgraded you go, ‘Oh well that’s good.’ It is good; it means less of a chance, but it still means there is a pretty good chance of seeing severe weather really throughout the region today…just know that the risk for damaging winds really hasn’t decreased that much,” ABC11 Meteorologist Don “Big Weather” Schwenneker said.

Other counties under the tornado watch include Chatham; Franklin, Harnett, Hoke, Johnston, Lee, Moore and Nash.

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Hohmann said all threats, including tornado, wind, and hail (to a lesser degree) remain, even though we are not in the “moderate risk” anymore.

Meanwhile, Gov. Roy Cooper signed a State of Emergency on Thursday afternoon in advance of expected severe weather across the state.

“This state of emergency will allow movement of trucks and equipment to respond to emergencies, rapidly restore power outages and clear debris after the storm passes,” Cooper said.

LIVE RADAR: storms headed to North Carolina

Timeline

Timing for the Triangle is probably around 6 p.m. or so, Hohmann said, and the storms should be out of the ABC11 viewing area by 10 p.m. at the latest.

The main line of the storms moves through the region between 4 p.m. and 7 p.m. This batch of storms will bring the brunt of the damaging straight-line winds.

Potential Dangers

Damaging wind remains the main threat with this set of storms. There is around a 30 percent chance that damaging straight-line winds will happen somewhere in central North Carolina.
That means if you pick any area in the region, there is a 30 percent chance you’d see wind damage within 25 miles of that area.

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The tornado threat is less likely but still possible. The threat level is moderate, which translates to about a 10 percent chance that an EF2-EF5 tornado could happen.

“Even though there is less of a chance for a tornado, if we do see a tornado, there is potential that it could be a rather strong one,” Big Weather said.

Localized flooding and hail are also possible with the system.

This same system is the one that has spawned an estimated 25 tornadoes from Oklahoma to Alabama. Fortunately, at this time there are no reported deaths from the storm.

Once this weather event is over, rain could linger around into Friday. It will be breezy and colder with temperatures in the 40s. A chance for a rain/snow mix exists near the Virginia border late morning but no accumulation is expected.

Saturday and Sunday will see temperatures in the 50s, with more sun Saturday and more warmth Sunday.