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1 dead after severe weather brings heavy rain, hail, strong winds to Charlotte area
A tornado warning and several severe thunderstorm watches were in effect for areas near Charlotte Wednesday.
Brad Panovich, Hank Lee, James Brierton (WCNC), Brittany Van Voorhees (WCNC), Blair Shiff (WCNC), Chris Mulcahy, Larry Sprinkle
1:50 PM EDT May 7, 2024
6:36 PM EDT May 8, 2024
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Multiple severe thunderstorm watches and warnings were issued for parts of the Charlotte area as a line of strong storms moved across the Carolinas Wednesday afternoon.
A tornado warning was issued around 3 p.m. for Cleveland, Gaston and Lincoln counties and expired at 3:45 p.m. The National Weather Service reported widespread wind damage including downed trees and power lines in Gaston County around western Gastonia, Kings Mountain and Bessemer City after that storm cell passed. There are reports of quarter-sized hail in Bessemer City, too.
Wednesday afternoon, Gaston County officials said a person was killed when a tree fell on a car. The New Hope Fire Department was able to get another person out of that car, though, and take them to the hospital.
The Gaston County Board of Commissioners Chairman Chad Brown declared a state of emergency for Gaston County due to all the downed power lines, broken tree limbs and other debris littered the county.
A severe thunderstorm warning was issued for Cabarrus, Cleveland, Gaston, Lincoln and Mecklenburg counties in North Carolina, and in Chester and York counties in South Carolina, that expired at 5:15 p.m.
Severe thunderstorm warnings for Anson, Richmond, Stanly and Union counties expired by 6 p.m.
Chief Meteorologist Brad Panovich is monitoring the line of strong thunderstorms that could produce damaging winds, heavy rain and and large hail in the Charlotte area from 3 p.m. until 8 p.m. Wednesday. Panovich forecast some of these storms could produce 70 mph winds and 2-inch hail.
A second line of storms is expected overnight into Thursday.
“These are going to be moving in, but this won’t be the only wave of storms,” Panovich said. “There’s another cluster developing back in Missouri that’s going to be here overnight into early Thursday morning.”
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Severe weather threat
Panovich said both Wednesday and Thursday are days to be Weather Aware in Charlotte and the Carolinas. This means there is a chance for severe weather that could impact people’s safety and their property. These storms are also expected to impact the Wells Fargo Championship at Quail Hollow.
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Storm timing
Panovich said there could be an isolated storm or two after 7 p.m. Wednesday, but it should be mostly quiet until midnight into Thursday. The second wave is expected to hit the Charlotte metro area around 3 a.m. Thursday.
A possible third round of storms could occur during the Thursday morning rush hour. Panovich said these waves of storms could produce heavy rain, damaging winds and isolated tornadoes.
Panovich said any Thursday morning storms could impact the Wells Fargo Championship at Quail Hollow Club. The good news is things should clear out by the middle of the day, and we’re looking at much nicer weather through the weekend.
“It looks like those storms will have used up so much energy in the atmosphere there may not be time for the atmosphere to reload or get re-intensified because at the same time, there’s a cold front sweeping in,” Panovich said. “So it’s a race to see if things get unstable again before the front or is there not enough time and the front gets in and clears everything out.”
Panovich said it’s looking more likely that the front will arrive first, leading to a sunny, pleasant afternoon in the Carolinas.
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