04/06/17 — Wayne County, central N.C. under Tornado Watch until 1 p.m.

View Archive

Wayne County, central N.C. under Tornado Watch until 1 p.m.

By From staff reports
Published in News on April 6, 2017 7:44 AM

The county is under a Tornado Watch and wind advisory for the next several hours, according to the National Weather Service in Raleigh.

The Tornado Watch is set to expire at 1 p.m., but the wind advisory should last until midnight.

Wind gusts could reach 39 mph later today and into the evening following the next round of thunderstorms that developed earlier this morning across upstate South Carolina.

The storms are traveling northeast at 50 to 60 mph and should impact central North Carolina between now and 9 a.m.

Wayne County is in the risk category for severe weather according to the National Weather Service. That means any storm would be short-lived and/or not widespread, but with isolated intense storms possible.

Wayne County Public Schools openings were delayed by two hours this morning.

The greatest threat of severe weather will be near and especially southeast of Interstate 85 according to the National Weather Service.

Damaging winds, large hail, dangerous cloud-to-ground lightning, brief torrential downpours resulting in localized heavy ponding of water on roads and isolated tornadoes are possible as the storms move through the central part of the state.