Tornado threat for Rock Hill area this afternoon

A line of heavy showers and thunderstorms will cross the Rock Hill area over the next few hours, and a tornado watch has been issued for the region.

The watch is in effect until 9 p.m., but actual threat for the Rock Hill area looks to be before 6 p.m.

At mid-afternoon Monday, National Weather Service radar showed a line of strong showers and storms stretching from near the Virginia border down through the North Carolina mountains and into the Greenville-Spartanburg area.

Shortly before 3 p.m., radar showed rotation in a thunderstorm southwest of Spartanburg, and a tornado warning was issued for Spartanburg County. A short time after 3 p.m., National Weather Service radar appeared to show airborne debris, possibly from a tornado.

That line of storms has produced widespread flooding Monday afternoon in the N.C. mountains.

Radar simulation shows the area of showers and storms crossing York and Chester counties sometime around 4 p.m., then moving through Lancaster County by 4:30 p.m. The line is moving eastward at 40 to 45 mph.

Showers are likely to continue for a few hours this evening but should end before midnight, forecasters say.

The precipitation is in advance of a cold front that will bring chilly temperatures to the Rock Hill area for much of this week.

This story was originally published October 23, 2017 at 3:15 PM with the headline "Tornado threat for Rock Hill area this afternoon."