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closeAnother round of severe weather is headed for the Charlotte metro region, with tornado and flash flood warnings issued in several counties.
The powerful storms are the result of Tropical Depression Fay, which is spinning bands of heavy showers and thunderstorms across the region and has caused record-setting rainfall today in Charlotte.
At 4 p.m., tornado warnings were in effect in Chester County, S.C., and in several other South Carolina counties. The storms responsible for those warnings are headed toward the Charlotte area.
The National Weather Service says a strong thunderstorm near the town of Chester could produce a tornado at any time. The warning in Chester County is valid until 4:30 p.m.
Numerous tornado warnings have been issued earlier today -- four in Lancaster County and two in Union County. But no confirmed twisters have been reported.
However, the cluster of storms headed toward the Charlotte area is responsible for confirmed tornadoes within the past hours in northeast Georgia and extreme western South Carolina. One tornado was spotted on the ground a few miles from Clemson University.
A tornado watch is in effect until 7 p.m. for Mecklenburg and Gaston counties of North Carolina, and for all nearby South Carolina counties. There are indications that the Storm Prediction Center in Norman, Okla., could extend the tornado watch into the later evening hours.
In addition to tornadoes, the storms also are triggering flash flood warnings. Such a warning is in effect until 5:15 p.m. in Union County. Heavy rain earlier this afternoon has caused streams to climb near bankfull on the Twelve Mile Creek and Lanes Creek basins.
A record has been set today for rainfall in Charlotte. As of 4 p.m., 4.08 inches had fallen at Charlotte/Douglas International Airport. That easily shattered the record for Aug. 26, of 1.86 inches, set in 1891. It also is more than any entire month since March, and the biggest one-day total in Charlotte since 4.14 inches fell on July 17, 2004.
The heaviest rainfall total measured so far today is 4.34 inches at an automated gauge at Kennedy Middle School. An even 4 inches has fallen at a gauge at Fire Station 30, off Yorkmont Road in southwest Charlotte. Other heavy totals include 3.97 inches at Lake Wylie Elementary School; 3.27 inches on Sugar Creek at Compton Street in Charlotte; and 3.21 inches at the Rock Hill Airport.
A tornado warning earlier this morning in eastern Union County prompted Union County Public Schools officials to send students into emergency procedures.
"That means students and staff were ordered into the hallways until the threat passed," Luan Ingram, spokeswoman for the Union County Schools, told NewsChannel 36, the Observer's news partner.
But Pat Beekman, director of homeland security in Union County, said there were no reports of a tornado touching down in the county.
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