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Brad Panovich: Tropical Storm Nicole to bring heavy rain, winds to Carolinas
Tropical Storm Nicole could bring up to 4 inches of rain to the Charlotte area with heavy downpours and gusty winds Thursday evening through Friday.
CHARLOTTE, N.C. â The Carolinas will feel the effects of Tropical Storm Nicole with expected heavy rain and high winds Thursday evening through late Friday, WCNC Charlotte chief meteorologist Brad Panovich said.
Nicole, which was upgraded to a tropical storm Tuesday morning, has sustained winds of 50 mph and gusts up to 65 mph as it moves toward the Atlantic coast of Florida. The storm is expected to turn north Thursday, bringing rain and winds to the Carolinas, with significant storm surge expected along the coast.
The good news is Nicole isn’t a very strong storm, and it’s moving quickly. But that doesn’t mean it won’t cause problems.
“It’s going to bring a lot of rain, which we desperately need,” Panovich said. “It’s going to bring some wind with it as well, which isn’t so bad, but the storm surge is always, and the coastal flooding, that is the bad news with this storm.”
Panovich said Nicole, which was a subtropical storm, has moved away from that setup to a more traditional tropical storm system. It’s not perfect, and there’s a lot of dry air moving around the south side. Panovich said Nicole is feeding off warm waters from the Gulf Stream, which helped it get stronger.
As Tropical Storm Nicole moves toward the coast, Panovich said impacts will be felt, starting with higher tides hundreds of miles away. Once the storm moves near land, the impacts will be felt along the Atlantic coast.
“We’re going to see coastal flooding, likely some beach erosion and the waves on top,” Panovich said. “So high surf, all of the marine issues you have with a storm or nor’easter on the coast.”
Panovich said Nicole could become a hurricane before making landfall in Florida later this week. If Nicole reaches hurricane status, it would likely only have 75 mph winds, but a larger wind field with heavy rain.
Tropical Storm Nicole timing
Charlotte will see mostly pleasant weather Thursday before the rain moves in during the late afternoon and evening.
“As we get into Thursday night, here comes the rain,” Panovich said. “We’ve got a Panthers home game. If you’re going to the game, you’re likely going to see some heavy rain at times, but it’s really Friday that the heavy stuff moves in.”
Friday, Nov. 11, will be a soggy day across the Charlotte metro area, according to Panovich. Expect widespread rain, low clouds, drizzle and foggy conditions pretty much all day with sustained winds up to 30 mph.
“Pretty ugly into Friday evening, still ugly Friday night,” Panovich said. “Things slowly start to improve after midnight and by Saturday morning. The weekend is fine, to me this is a late Thursday night into early Friday event.”
Panovich said the biggest impacts from Nicole in the Charlotte area will be heavy rain and winds. Some areas could see 2-4 inches of rain with areas closer to the North Carolina coast seeing up to 5 inches of rainfall from Tropical Storm Nicole.
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