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Tropical Update: The tropics are beginning to get more active. Watching!

ncwxauthority

August 11, 2026 at 2:20:12 PM

🌀 Tropical Update: Good afternoon, everyone. I'm sure everyone is sick of working on this fine Tuesday, so as you take your scroll break from work, I thought you'd love to read my tropical update. In true fashion as we head toward the start of schools/colleges, the tropics are coming alive, and this year is no different. I am, and forecasters at the National Hurricane Center are monitoring two main areas for potential tropical development in the Atlantic Ocean and two areas in the Pacific Ocean, with one showing a potential threat to Hawaii.


In the Atlantic, we have an area of disturbed weather in the North Atlantic moving away from the United States that has a low chance 20% of some Tropical Development over the next 5-7 days, but does not pose any threat to NC!


Down in the Main Development Region of the Atlantic, we've had several tropical waves that are moving off Africa over the next 5-10 days, and some are trying to show signs of development. There is now a 70% from the National Hurricane Center that a Tropical Depression or Storm will develop in this area. There remains high wind shear and dry air, so it'll face an uphill battle as it moves generally westward across the Atlantic. Since the system has not even developed, let's take models with a grain of salt and not jump to too many conclusions, but the threat to North Carolina at this point is rather low. So there's no reason to worry at this point.


Image 2: Is a graphic I created to give you an idea how long it takes tropical systems to travel across the Atlantic Ocean (NOT A FORECAST), just an example. This location is 10-14 days away, and it may not even survive the trek across. There could be some enhanced moisture to parts of the Caribbean Islands which they very much need.


Over in the Pacific, there is an area of disturbed weather over 1k miles east southeast of the Hawaiian Islands that has a high chance of becoming a Tropical Depression or Storm. Interests in the Hawaiian Islands should closely


monitor the progress of this system.


I'll keep you posted all season long; nothing to worry about right now in NC!

Mountains

110°F

Raleigh area

CADEN NELSON

CADEN NELSON

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

May 29, 2025
2 min read

⛈️ 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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