Starting tonight, clouds will continue to thicken as our next weather system moves into the region. A large area of rain will approach the region later this evening, with heaviest pockets of rain happening after midnight. The more organized and widespread rainfall is expected to lose some of its strength as it gets closer to Charlotte.
UNC Charlotte has cancelled classes until 11:59 p.m. tonight.
The Florida Highway Patrol has closed an 80-mile stretch of Interstate 10 to clear debris from Hurricane Michael.
The National Hurricane Center says Michael is making landfall near Mexico Beach, Florida, as a catastrophic Category 4 Hurricane, pushing a deadly storm surge and whipping the coast with 155 mph (250 kph) winds.
North Carolina’s governor, Roy Cooper, has declared a state of emergency ahead of Hurricane Michael.
Gaining frightening fury overnight, Hurricane Michael closed in Wednesday on the Florida Panhandle with potentially catastrophic winds of 145 mph, the most powerful storm on record ever to menace the stretch of fishing towns, military bases and spring-break beaches.
A fast and furious Hurricane Michael sped toward the Florida Panhandle on Tuesday with 120 mph winds and a potential storm surge of 13 feet, giving tens of thousands of people precious little time to get out or board up.
In the storm-weary Carolinas, Hurricane Michael’s approach is stoking fresh fears among homeowners who still have tarps on their roofs or industrial dehumidifiers drying their floors from destruction left by Hurricane Florence.
Hurricane Michael, a category 2 storm, is predicted to journey across the Carolinas late Wednesday and early Thursday, pouring 2 to 6 inches or more of rainfall.
