WeatherWise Alert: Severe storms possible late Thursday

AM Headlines:

• PM Severe Threat
  • Level 2 (out of 5) North and West of I-77
    • Damaging Wind & Large Hail = Primary Concerns
    • Low but not zero Tornado Threat
• Unsettled Mother’s Day Weekend
• Staying Wet through Next Week

We’re tracking the threat of severe weather today, mainly focused on this afternoon through the evening hours. Expect storms to fire up in the high country and foothills by mid-afternoon, then move east towards the Piedmont—most likely impacting the I-77 corridor by 6-7pm. The setup favors large hail (up to 2”, or about the size of hen egg — very unusal for this area) and damaging wind gusts with strong instability as temps warm into the low 80s during the day and tropical moisture surges into the area. The tornado risk is low but not zero, especially this evening if storms remain semi-discrete. Storms may organize into clusters or a line later tonight, especially south of I-85. After midnight, most of the activity fades, but a few showers could linger with patchy fog possible by morning.

Friday brings another shot at scattered storms, but coverage and intensity will be lower than today. After that, a stalled front and an upper low set up shop south towards the Gulf, while high pressure slides from the midwest over the northeast. That’ll keep temperatures cooler Mother;s Day weekend with highs in the 60s to low 70s under cloudy skies with waves of showers,

By Monday, a cutoff low over the Gulf Coast lifts northeast. This reinforces the moisture over the Carolinas, bringing widespread steady rain and embedded thunderstorms Monday into Tuesday. The wedge begins to erode by Tuesday as the low moves north, allowing some mixing and gradual warming, but scattered showers could linger through midweek.