Strong storms: Another round of heavy rain is likely late Tuesday night through Wednesday morning. Stronger storms are also likely by late morning and midday Wednesday. Those storms will have the potential for large hail, damaging winds and even a tornado.
Looking ahead: The storms will move out quickly by Wednesday afternoon and quiet weather remains in place through the weekend. Temps will warm back to near 70 degrees Wednesday, but then drop off into the lower 50s again by Friday.
National Weather Service warns of severe weather, tornadoes
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — The National Weather Service issued a warning for residents of central North Carolina on Tuesday to be on guard for the threat of severe weather.
With the prospect for severe weather, Gov. Pat McCrory advised the state's seven Urban Search and Rescue Teams and seven hazardous materials Regional Response Teams to be on standby.
A discussion of the forecast for Wednesday says the likelihood for pockets of straight-line wind damage is "a near certainty." The discussion also says the risk for one or more tornadoes in the area is fairly high.
Forecasters say straight-line wind gusts on Wednesday may be particularly strong, reaching 70 mph or greater, and associated damage with the wind gusts may be tornado-like in intensity.
While forecasters say central North Carolina will get scattered severe thunderstorms, areas east of U.S. Highway 1 will have the greatest risk for more numerous severe storms with greater impacts.
The weather service also says that with the system bringing severe weather expected to move across central North Carolina during school hours on Wednesday, schools and universities should take time to review their severe weather safety plans and review their tornado sheltering procedures.
Weather resources:
Cox Media Group
/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/cmg/LH3JSJEF3VBLRJLJQESEAG34AM.png)
