‘Torrential’ rain from Idalia could affect Charlotte commute Thursday, NWS says

Heavy rains from Hurricane Idalia were expected to affect the morning commute in Charlotte Thursday as police urged drivers to stay off roads.

Charlotte-Mecklenburg emergency management officials had no plans to activate their emergency operations center Wednesday, but said they continued to track the storm and its potential flooding of creeks, roads and bridges.

The forecast for heavy rain and flooding prompted the Charlotte-Mecklenburg, Union County and Cabarrus County school districts to cancel after-school activities Wednesday.

And police expected wrecks due to the storm.

“The likelihood of accidents is going to be heightened over the next few days,” the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department said on Twitter Wednesday. “We’ll be monitoring any major road closures.”

A flood watch was in effect from 2 p.m. Wednesday through Thursday night for the Charlotte area.

“Flash flooding caused by excessive rainfall is possible,” according to the NWS flood watch alert. “Embedded torrential downpours within the rain bands could produce local one inch per hour, or greater, rainfall rates.”

The tropical system began dumping rain in Charlotte close to 3 p.m. Wednesday. Counties to the southeast of Mecklenburg were likely to see higher rainfall totals, based on the track of the storm, WSOC meteorologists reported Wednesday morning.

At 5:30 p.m. Wednesday, at least 151 flights were delayed and 93 canceled at Charlotte Douglas International Airport, primarily to and from Florida airports, according to Flight Aware.com.

Rain in Charlotte from Idalia

Showers arrived ahead of wind gusts forecast to reach 30 mph by nightfall Wednesday, meteorologist Chris Horne of the NWS office in Greer, South Carolina, told The Charlotte Observer.

Charlotte had an 80% chance of showers Wednesday afternoon and night, according to the NWS Charlotte forecast at 4 p.m. Wednesday.

“Winds will slowly increase today, but more notably tonight,” Horne said. “We’re expecting more notable wind gusts for tonight for the greater Charlotte area ... and lingering into a good chunk of the overnight hours.”

Just before 5:30 p.m. Wednesday, the NWS Greer office delivered some good news for the Charlotte area, saying forecasters expected less rain than originally expected.

That’s because Idalia was tracking farther east, and the chance for embedded thunder in the storm had dropped, NWS meteorologists said on Twitter.

“We hate it when our forecast doesn’t pan out, but lower impacts are always better!” according to the NWS Greer office.

At least a half-inch of rain was originally forecast for western Mecklenburg County. Predicted totals fell to 1/10th to 2/10ths of an inch Wednesday night.

Idalia made landfall as a Category 3 major hurricane with maximum sustained winds of 125 mph near Keaton Beach, Florida, at 7:45 a.m. Wednesday, according to the National Hurricane Center.

The storm quickly weakened to 92-mph winds over northern Florida, National Hurricane Center officials said at 11 a.m.

Still, “damaging hurricane-force winds will occur where the core of Idalia moves across southern Georgia and southern South Carolina” Wednesday night, according to the hurricane center alert.

“Rainfall could be anywhere from a half inch in western Mecklenburg County to an inch or more in Monroe,” Horne said. “It’s going to be kind of gradual.”

He said more intense rains and winds are expected southeast of Charlotte and along the coast.

North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper warned residents statewide Wednesday afternoon to brace for “near tropical storm-strength” conditions into Saturday.

“Just batten down the hatches for a little while,” Cooper urged, with tropical storm warnings in effect for the state’s coast.

Stay off flooded roads and listen to emergency alerts, Cooper said.

The storm caused at least two deaths and left more than 300,000 customers in Florida and Georgia without power, CNN reported.

At 5 p.m., the National Hurricane Center said storm surge was expected along the southeastern coast Wednesday night and coastal flooding in North Carolina on Thursday.