Raleigh North Carolina News

By Cory Dinkel, WRAL multiplatform producer Severe storms, including a possible tornado in Orange County, caused damage across central North Carolina Friday evening. Three buildings in Orange County sustained damage from heavy winds that could have been the result of a tornado, according to Orange County officials. While it is not a confirmed tornado, Orange County Emergency Services Director Kirby Saunders said several callers to 911 reported seeing a funnel cloud. WRAL’s Mike Maze also…

RALEIGH, N.C. (WTVD) — The risk for severe weather Friday has increased to a level 3 of 5 and includes a chance for isolated tornadoes. Damaging winds are the threat most likely to accompany storms in this system. Those winds could gust up above 58 miles per hour. In addition, conditions have increased the chance that hail and tornadoes could develop. Those risks are higher in the northern part of central North Carolina, extending down…

By The Associated Press EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. — The mother of a man who was killed in December when a tornado slammed into an Amazon facility in Illinois said on Tuesday that her son was only in the building because he was called into work on his day off. “It breaks my heart that DeAndre was scheduled to take his day off but was called from dispatch to work an extra shift,” said Deon January, the…

By CEDAR ATTANASIO and SUSAN MONTOYA BRYAN, Associated Press LAS VEGAS, N.M. — Wind-whipped flames raced across more of New Mexico’s pine-covered mountainsides on Monday, closing in on a town of 13,000 people where some residents hurried to pack their cars with belongings, others hustled to clear brush from around their homes, and police were called in to help evacuate the state’s psychiatric hospital. Firefighting crews battled on several fronts to keep the fire, the…

WICHITA, Kansas — A tornado that barreled through parts of Kansas destroyed or damaged hundreds of homes and buildings, injured several people and left more than 15,000 people without power, officials said Saturday. In addition to wreckage from the tornado itself, three University of Oklahoma meteorology students traveling back from storm chasing in Kansas were also killed in a crash Friday evening, according to officials. Nicholas Nair, 20, of Denton, Texas; Gavin Short, 19, of…

It’s Hurricane Preparedness Week and that means it’s time to assemble your emergency kit. It should include enough food and water to get you through seven days. It should also include a first aid kit, a weather radio with batteries in case the power goes out and any medicines you may need. SEE ALSO: What is in Big Weather’s hurricane emergency kit Having some cash on hand will also be helpful if ATMs and credit…

The Carolina Hurricanes start their quest for the Stanley Cup on Monday night in Raleigh. They will be taking on the Boston Bruins in the first round of the playoffs. In all three regular season meetings, the Canes came out on top outscoring the Bruins 16-1. Coach Rob Brind’Amour said the key to the series will come down to execution. Rookie standout Sebastian Aho said it’s going to be a hard battle but just like…

By The Associated Press WICHITA, Kan. — The tornado that damaged more than more than 1,000 buildings in south-central Kansas generated winds up to 165 mph and carved a path of destruction nearly 13 miles long. The National Weather Service said the tornado that caused extensive damage Friday mostly in the Wichita suburb of Andover and injured several people rated an EF-3 on the Enhanced Fujita scale it uses to assess tornadoes. Andover Fire Chief…

By Brian Shrader, WRAL anchor/reporter Raleigh, N.C. — North Carolina is no stranger to tornado danger. A quick tornado spawned from a band of storms March 31, bringing 100-mile-per-hour winds to Research Triangle Park. The storm damaged the roof of Pfizer’s office building and took down trees. No one was hurt, but the storm reminded the Triangle of the severe weather threats we face. Most tornadoes in the United States form in isolated storms called…

By The Associated Press CAMBRIDGE, Neb. — Wind-driven wildfires sweeping through parts of Nebraska killed a retired fire chief and injured at least 15 firefighters, authorities said Sunday. The man who died Friday night was a retired Cambridge fire chief who was working with firefighters as a spotter in Red Willow County in the southwestern corner of the state. That fire had burned more than 78 square miles (202 square kilometers) in Red Willow, Furnas…

By The Associated Press SANTA FE, N.M. — New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham has signed emergency declarations as 20 wildfires continued to burn Sunday in nearly half of the state’s drought-stricken 33 counties. One wildfire in northern New Mexico that started April 6 merged with a newer fire Saturday to form the largest blaze in the state, leading to widespread evacuations in Mora and San Miguel counties. That fire was at 84 square miles…

By ADRIAN SAINZ and BRUCE SCHREINER, Associated Press MAYFIELD, Ky. — Sundays at the Bullock home in rural Kentucky were filled with lasting memories: big family dinners, cornhole, basketball and karaoke. Those gatherings ended the night of Dec. 10, when a massive tornado obliterated their Dawson Springs house, trapping Chris Bullock, 17-year-old son Stevie and miniature poodle Dewey under a crumbled brick wall in the basement. Her husband pulled them from the rubble with minor…

By FELICIA FONSECA and SUSAN MONTOYA BRYAN, Associated Press FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. — Destructive fires in the U.S. Southwest have burned dozens of homes in northern Arizona and put numerous small villages in New Mexico in the path of danger, as wind-fueled flames chewed up wide swaths of tinder dry forest and grassland and plumes of smoke filled the sky. “It’s a very chaotic situation out there,” Stewart Turner, a fire behavior analyst, said during a…

By Aimee Wilmoth, WRAL weather executive producer The rainfall from the most active hurricane season on record was made worse due to our climate in crisis, according to new research. The 2020 hurricane season included an unprecedented 30 named storms, of which 11 of those made landfall in the United States. New research published in the journal of Nature Communications found that three-hour tropical rainfall totals were up to 10% higher when compared to tropical…