Severe storms with 70-mph gusts, quarter-size hail and “frequent” lightning threatened the Charlotte area Saturday afternoon and night, National Weather Service meteorologists said.
“Torrential rainfall” could trigger flash flooding across the region through 9 p.m., according to an NWS severe thunderstorm watch Saturday afternoon.
The watch area includes Mecklenburg and surrounding counties in North Carolina as well as Upstate South Carolina, according to an NWS alert on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter.
At least 590 flights were delayed and another 63 were canceled at Charlotte’s airport around 6:15 p.m., according to FlightAware.com, which tracks flights at the nation’s airports. It was unknown how many of the delays and cancellations were weather-related.
At least 304 departures and 286 inbound planes were delayed, Flight Aware reported. A total of 28 outbound and 35 inbound flights were canceled. The website placed Charlotte No. 1 on its “Misery Map,” which tracks delays and cancellations as a percentage of total flights in a number of large cities across the country.
Charlotte has a 70% chance of showers and thunderstorms into late Saturday, according to the NWS Charlotte forecast at 3 p.m.
At 4 p.m., the NWS issued severe-thunderstorm and other warnings across the region, from Charlotte Douglas International Airport to Rowan County. At the airport, the NWS warned of 40-mph gusts and pea-size hail.
Earlier, the NWS office in Greer, South Carolina, issued a special weather statement until 2:15 p.m. for Union County, saying 50-mph gusts and pea-sized hail were possible.
Lenoir and other areas of Caldwell County were under a severe thunderstorm warning until 3:15 p.m., with 60-mph gusts possible, NWS forecasters said..
This is a developing story that will be updated.