Chances Increase for Severe Weather Wednesday Evening through Thursday

A severe weather threat has been issued for the Eastern North Carolina region starting Wednesday night and continuing through Thursday.

Per the latest 6:00 a.m. Wednesday briefing from the National Weather Service office in Morehead City, it is likely that there will be two rounds of potentially severe weather across the region Wednesday night into Thursday morning.

The first round is expected Wednesday evening until an hour or two after midnight associated with a warm front lifting across the region, with a second round late Wednesday night into Thursday morning ahead of a strong cold front.

This severe weather still has the potential to be a dangerous and potentially life-threatening event across Eastern NC. At this time, the Storm Prediction Center has Eastern NC forecasted as slight risk for severe storms Wednesday night with an enhanced-to-slight risk for severe storms Thursday morning. Threats associated with the storms include a few tornadoes, some potentially strong and damaging winds, and large hail.

Once the severe weather passes, the National Weather Service is expecting strong westerly gradient winds to develop Thursday into Friday, bringing Gale force winds and large waves around 10-17 feet across much of the coastal waters, with the highest waves south of Oregon Inlet. Wind advisory conditions will also be possible across coastal sections, and rough surf may bring minor beach erosion south of Cape Hatteras. Wind gusts of 35 to 45 mph are expected on Thursday, with the highest guests along the coastline.

In addition, the Eastern NC region may see minor to moderate water level rises of roughly 2 to 3 feet across soundside Outer Banks from Hatteras north.

For information on this evolving weather system, visit www.spc.noaa.gov and / or www.weather.gov/mhx.