Severe storms race through Charlotte area, prompting tornado warnings, flight delays
Severe storms darted through the Charlotte area on Thursday, prompting tornado warnings, more than 100 flight delays and a move to remote learning by Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools.
The most severe storms barreled through southern Mecklenburg County from Upstate South Carolina late afternoon. A tornado warning continued for Cabarrus County at 6 p.m. Severe thunderstorm warnings also remained in effect in Anson and Richmond counties, east of Charlotte.
“Seek shelter immediately and stay inside and in an interior room,” Charlotte-Mecklenburg Emergency Management urged after a warning for Pineville, Matthews and Mint Hill.
No injuries or major damage was reported from the storms as of 6:30 p.m.
Indian Trail and Weddington in Union County and Fort Mill and Lake Wylie in York County, S.C., also fell under warnings. Tornado sirens sounded in York County and at UNC Charlotte.
Rotation in the skies
“Still very good rotation in this tornado-warned storm,” the National Weather Service office in Greer, S.C., tweeted at 5 p.m. “If you’re on the south side of Charlotte, you need to be in your safe place!”
Video on social media showed rotation in clouds above Mint Hill.
At least 1,000 homes and businesses lost power in the western Carolinas early in the day, according to Duke Energy’s online outage map.
Downed power lines
Storms arrived in the Charlotte area just after 3 p.m., when the York County Sheriff’s Office reported downed power lines on Lawrence Road at Beamguard Road in Clover. A tree also was blocking part of Lawrence Road, and power was out in the area.
At 3:20 p.m., WBTV meteorologist Jason Myers reported wind gusts nearing 40 mph in Charlotte ahead of storms, and 30 mph sustained winds.
The storms moved into the Carolinas from the Mississippi Valley.
Schools move to remote learning
Ahead of the storms, CMS also canceled all afterschool activities, athletics and community programs. The Cabarrus and Union County school systems also shifted to remote learning, while Cabarrus likewise canceled all athletic and extracurricular activities.
Charlotte-based StarMed Healthcare canceled several COVID-19 testing events.
Flight delays
At 6:15 p.m., at least 112 flights were delayed and four canceled at Charlotte Douglas International Airport, according to FlightAware.com, which tracks flights at U.S. airports.
Arrival delays of up to a half-hour were reported, after all inbound flights were held at their originating airports until 4:30 p.m. to avoid Charlotte-area thunderstorms, according to FlightAware.
Showers moved from the area by late afternoon, but more rain is expected overnight.
Highs are expected to plummet to 57 degrees on Friday, 52 on Saturday and 58 on Sunday, while mostly sunny skies prevail over the weekend, according to the NWS forecast.
This story was originally published March 17, 2021 at 11:20 AM with the headline "Severe storms race through Charlotte area, prompting tornado warnings, flight delays."