This week is Severe Weather Preparedness Week for both North and South Carolina. Both states will focus on different severe weather topics each day, helping communities stay informed and ready for storms.
Severe Weather Preparedness Week Overview
North Carolina Topics:
Sunday: Overview of the week
Monday: Severe Thunderstorms and tornadoes
Tuesday: Ways to receive severe weather alerts, and information about the Statewide Tornado Drill
Wednesday: Staying safe when high winds, hail, and tornadoes strike
Thursday: Lightning safety
Friday: Flash flood safety
Saturday: Make a plan and encourage others to do the same
North Carolina Tornado Drill: Due to the potential for severe weather Wednesday, the statewide tornado drill has been postponed to Friday, March 7 at 9:30 a.m, using the Routine Monthly Test (RMT) code
South Carolina Topics:
Sunday: Types of Severe Weather
Monday: Watches and Warnings
Tuesday: Have Multiple Ways to Stay Connected
Wednesday: What to do during a tornado
Thursday: FLOODING! Stats and Danger
Friday: Turn around don’t drown, flooding home safety tips (and 9 am tornado drill)
Saturday: After the Storm (Storm damage reporting, recovery from storms and flooding, insurance, etc.)
South Carolina Tornado Drill: Due to the potential of severe weather Wednesday, the statewide tornado drill has been postponed to Friday, March 7, 2025 at 9 a.m., using the Routine Weekly Test (RWT) code, activating the NOAA All-Hazards Weather Radios.
Types of Severe Weather in the Carolinas
The Carolinas experience a variety of severe weather threats, including thunderstorms, tornadoes, flooding, large hail, and damaging wind. Understanding these threats nad how to respond is the key to staying safe.
Severe Thunderstorms
Severe thunderstorms produce damaging wind (58+ mph), large hail more than 1″ in diameter (quarter+ sized), lightning and even tornadoes. While common in the spring and summer, they can happen at any time of the year.
Tornadoes
Tornadoes are violent, rotating columns of air that can produce winds more than 300 mph, that can produce damage more than a mile wide. On average, the Carolinas experience 20-25 tornadoes per year.
Lightning
Lightning can strike more than 10 miles away from a thunderstorm. On average, lightning kills 20 people per year in the United States and injures hundreds more. When thunderstorms threaten, get inside and stay away from windows.
Flooding
Flooding is the number one storm related killer in the United States. It is the second weather related killer, behind heat related deaths. More than 50 percent of those killed by flooding are due to someone driving or walking into flood waters.
The WeatherWise Team will be posting each day this week with more information on the daily topic. You can find the latest articles here or by downloading the WCCB Weather App.
