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Active Weather is ahead; rounds of storms are likely, with some Flash Flooding possible.

Ethan Clark

July 21, 2026 at 8:08:00 PM

Alright guys, let's talk, since it appears everyone in their brother and 3rd cousin once removed has plans this week and into the weekend! Unfortunately, if you have outdoor plans, you'll be at the mercy of Mother Nature for the next few days. An approaching front will bring a very active period of weather through Saturday at least across North Carolina, and if you haven’t had rain yet by Saturday, I am pretty confident you'll have rainfall!


WHAT: A front will move into the state and stall Wednesday night into Thursday; where the stalling occurs will greatly determine who sees potentially significant rainfall through Saturday, which would also have the potential to have Flash Flooding, which is currently favoring somewhere across Central/Eastern NC. Even with drought condtions excessive rainfall just runs off and results in Flash Flooding. Yes, we can flood in droughts.


Wednesday PM/Evening (Image 2): Scattered showers and thunderstorms will develop, with a limited severe weather risk, with damaging winds as the main threat along the front, which appears to be stalled over parts of Central/Eastern. A level 2/5 risk of Severe Weather has been placed by the Storm Prediction Center; there could be a brief/limited Tornado risk Wednesday evening into the overnight hours (watching)


Thursday: Waves of on-and-off showers and thunderstorms will be possible across the state on and off, favoring Central and Eastern NC. Some could be heavy at times, resulting in potential flash flooding for some. Low severe risk at this point and much cooler temps in the 70s/80s for most areas due to considerable clouds.


Friday: The highest storm chances/rain will be in Central and Southern/Southeastern/Eastern sections of the state. Not a washout, but storms definitely around.

Unsettled weather will continue into the weekend; not a washout by any means, but better chances for more storms and rain the further south and east you are.


The Bottom Line: We need the rain, but all at once could result in some Flash Flooding. I'll be watching over the coming days and pinpoint where exactly as we get a clearer picture. Stay tuned for updates; here are just some thoughts!

-Ethan

Mountains

110°F

Raleigh area

CADEN NELSON

CADEN NELSON

Risk of Strong to Severe Storms across the state on Friday.

⛈️ Friday Severe Weather Update: I've received numerous questions regarding the Severe Weather threat on Friday across the state. People have been worried about this for several days. As we all know, I prefer to approach these events slowly and process them with caution, presenting the weather as it is. The Storm Prediction Center has placed most of North Carolina under a level 2/5 risk of Severe Weather for Friday afternoon and evening as an approaching cold front pushes east. I am expecting a line to broken line of showers and thunderstorms to move east, but severe weather is not a complete slam dunk.




📌WHAT: A strong cold front will push east into North Carolina on Friday, and ahead of the frontal system, a line of showers and thunderstorms should try to develop. There are some questions that need to be worked out, and we can expect to see some leftover rain and drizzle clouds in the morning, which will limit the severe weather threat. This is a possibility, but some models also show we wil clear out into a partly sunny sky which will allow for CAPE or Convective Available Potential Energy is the amount of fuel available to a developing thunderstorm to increase to 1,500-2,000 j/kg which is more than enough for some strong to severe storms along with some wind shear.


⚠️Threats: Based on the data and my experience with this type of setup, I am thinking we will have a line to broken line of showers and thunderstorms to push east across North Carolina. A couple of strong to severe storms will be present along the line, with gusty to damaging winds and some hail being the main threats. However, with some boundaries around and some wind shear, I can't rule out an isolated tornado threat, mainly at any point, but overall the tornado threat is not that high.


➡️Timing: The line of showers and thunderstorms will push east through the mountains late morning into early afternoon and then across Central and Eastern NC afternoon through late evening east. I do expect everything to be gone before it gets too late on Friday evening. I think storms will be more of a line, so a quick-hitting event for each location, and then done. However, a couple of storms could develop out ahead of the line on Friday.


😎The Bottom Line: The severe weather threat is slightly higher on Friday than it has been recently, but I still don't think it'll be a completely widespread amount of severe weather at this point. We will need to stay aware of some strong to severe storms that move through on Friday; there is no reason to panic. The severe weather threat could still bust, so what I say we will check back in the morning to see how it is. I'm just here to share my thoughts with you, don't panic - we'll be just fine! I'll have more information over the next 12-18 hours and will probably do a video or two tomorrow morning to discuss further.


-Ethan

 
 
 

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