Carolina Weather Group

Days after bringing devastating damage to New Orleans and the Louisiana Gulf Coast, the remnants of Ida are producing historic tornadoes and flash flooding in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast, including in New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania, where the Carolina Weather Group's James Brierton joins us live from West Chester County, Penn.

WATCH LARRY SPRINKLE REFLECT ON HIS COVERAGE OF HURRICANE HUGO

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At least 5 people are confirmed dead after Tropical Depression Fred brought devasting flooding to western North Carolina. No place was harder hit than Haywood County, where floodwaters engulfed towns like Canton.

On Wednesday, North Carolina Roy Cooper returned to the western North Carolina mountains to visit residents and businesses in Haywood and Buncombe counties.

Looking back at the historic event, we're joined by Jason Boyer, Chief Meteorologist for WLOS in Asheville, and Chris Mulcahy, a meteorologist from WCNC Charlotte. 

Jason Boyer introduces us to a fundraising effort to help the people of Haywood County, North Carolina, who experienced flooding in places along the Pigeon River such as Cruso and Canton.

Donate to the United Way and WLOS' Hope for Haywood

Chris Mulcahy takes us inside a National Weather Service storm survey that confirmed an EF-1 tornado in parts of Iredell and Alexander counties.

See Chris' full story

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A State of Emergency is in effect after Tropical Depression Fred brought devastating flooding to the western North Carolina mountains Tuesday.

Dozens of people remain unaccounted for in Haywood County after flash flooding. On Tuesday evening, the National Weather Service issued a Flash Flood Emergency for the county as life-threatening flooding was occurring along the Pigeon River. Canton, North Carolina was underwater as the Pigeon River rose to nearly 20 feet.

On Wednesday, the National Weather Service began storm surveys across both North Carolina and South Carolina. Their initial findings support the discovery of EF-1 tornadoes across the Carolinas on Tuesday.

The Carolina Weather Group is providing an initial recap of the severe weather, the full extent of which is still yet unknown.

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#weather #fred #severeweather

Fred, a tropical storm that made landfall in Florida Monday, is bringing with it rich, tropical moisture that will produce flash flooding and severe weather, including damaging winds and tornadoes, in North Carolina and South Carolina Tuesday.

Rainfall rates could be as intense as 1 to 2 inches an hour, with total rainfall amounts between 5 and 10 inches possible. There will be a risk of flash flooding, including landslides. The National Weather Service's Weather Prediction Center is calling for a "moderate" risk of flashing flooding Tuesday in western North Carolina and upstate South Carolina. Locations include, but are not limited to, Asheville, Greeville, Spartanburg, and Clemson.

The Storm Prediction Center has outlined locations including Charlotte, Statesville, Hickory, Boone, Blowing Rock, Greenboro, Winston-Salem, Asheville, Anderson, Greenville, Spartanburg, and more in a Slight Risk, which is a tier 2 out of 5 for the possibility of severe weather. Storms could produce damaging winds, hail, and isolated tornadoes.

Meanwhile the National Hurricane Center  is continuing to track Fred:

1. Through Tuesday, heavy rainfall may lead to considerable flash, urban, small stream, and isolated river flooding impacts across portions of the Florida Big Bend and Panhandle.  By the middle of

the week as Fred lifts north and inland, heavy rainfall and flooding will impact the southern and central Appalachians, the Piedmont of the Southeast and Mid-Atlantic.  Landslides are possible across the mountains of North Carolina and Blue Ridge Escarpment on Tuesday.

2. Dangerous storm surge inundation is ongoing along portions of the coast of the Florida Panhandle and the Florida Big Bend region.

3. Tropical storm conditions will continue along the coastline within the warning area over the next few hours and will continue to spread farther inland later today and tonight across portions of the Florida Panhandle, southwestern Georgia, and southeastern Alabama.

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This week we're talking with Patrick Hyland about the National Weather Museum and Science Center in Norman, Oklahoma.

We're also looking at severe weather storm reports from North Carolina and South Carolina. Severe thunderstorms Wednesday produced damage wind, hail, and in at least one instance, a flash flood in Charlotte and Mecklenburg County, South Carolina.

We're also looking at the latest on Tropical Storm Fred from the National Hurricane Center.

WATCH THIS SHOW TO SEE THE MAP OF SEVERE WEATHER REPORTS

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Starting this week, the National Weather Service will be issuing a new tier of Severe Thunderstorm Warnings that will automatically be delivered to your cell phone.

Severe thunderstorms capable of producing 80 mph winds or baseball-sized hail will now be categorized as "destructive," a classification that will prompt the Wireless Emergency Alert (WEA) to sound on your phone if you are near the storm.

The WEA functionality already delivers severe weather alerts to your phone for all tornado warnings and select flash flood warnings.

The change is a part of a multi-year effort by the National Weather Service to simplify their severe weather hazards and make them more assemble.

This week to help understand the change, we're looking back at part of an interview with Trisha Palmer, the Warning Coordination Meteorologist at the National Weather Service Office in Greenville-Spartanburg, South Carolina.

See the full interview: https://youtu.be/2oycYpg6VEs

See our 2019 interview about the NWS Hazard Simplification Project: https://youtu.be/jdSVhXr9G_A

Prepare for the hurricane season: https://www.weather.gov/safety/hurricane

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This week the Carolina Weather Group is chatting with Dr. Kathie Dello, the director and state climatologist for the state of North Carolina. She is the 5th permanent director and the first woman to hold this position at the NCSCO in 44 years.

She chats with Evan Fisher, Scotty Powell, and Frank Strait about how the state observes weather and records climate. Dello talks about North Carolina's expanding mesonet of weather observation stations, about drought, warmer climate norms, wildfires, and a new initiative to study urban heat islands in the state's metropolitan cities, including Raleigh. 

Kathie is involved with climate resilience planning and impacts assessment. She has a Ph.D. in Environmental Sciences from Oregon State University, a Master’s in Geography, and a Bachelor’s in Atmospheric Science from the State University of New York at Albany.

This episode features a bonus Part 2 available exclusively to audio podcast listeners. The full episode was also made available earlier to supporters of the Carolina Weather Group on Patreon.

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This episode, and many other episodes of the Carolina Weather Group, air daily on the Carolina Weather Net. SEE THE LATEST: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLmpTWSmBkt-xHxPiryEx6u8pV-Cn_8UMM

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Smoke from wildfires in Oregon, California, Canada, and the western Pacific are traveling in the jet stream across the United States. Smoke and haze conditions are being seen across the East Coast, including in North Carolina and South Carolina. Big cities like New York, Chicago, and Washington are even seeing the smoke.

As a result of the degraded atmospheric conditions, air quality alerts have been issued in the Carolinas. Particulars in the air may make it hard for some - especially the elderly, the young, and those with respiratory conditions - to breathe. For those individuals, officials are encouraging you to stay inside with the doors and windows closed.

A filter, such as the one in your central air condition unit, can help filter the atmosphere inside your house.

Carolina Weather Group panelist Evan Fisher compares photos of "current conditions" with "normal photos" taken in the same spot. Evan explains this process in this week's episode of the Carolina Weather Group.

And special thanks to WCNC Charlotte meteorologist Chris Mulcahy, who used Evan's analysis on wcnc.com. You'll see Chris' report on this week's show and you can read Chris' full report here: https://www.wcnc.com/article/weather/wildfire-smoke-making-it-hazy-in-the-carolinas/275-c658508f-1990-4ac8-8169-5a8084e3db97

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North Carolina has a radar gap Mike Smith, a retired AccuWeather executive, identifies as the fifth-worst gap in the United States.  The gap exists over a portion of central North Carolina located outside the Greensboro and Charlotte metropolitan areas. While many have proposed the construction of a full-scale National Weather Service WSR-88D radar in Charlotte, Smith feels that is not the answer. Smith, who was a plaintiff expert in the litigation following the crash of US Airways Flight 1016 in Charlotte in 1994, feels Charlotte is safely covered by the terminal doppler radar installed by the FAA after the crash.   

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The Carolina Weather Group discusses Tropical Storm Elsa and the storm's forecasted impacts on the Carolinas.  

The system made landfall in Florida Wednesday morning before impacting the Southeast, including Georgia, South Carolina, and North Carolina. Tropical storm-force winds are expected in parts of the Carolinas overnight through Thursday. Other threats include heavy rain, flooding, and isolated tornadoes. 

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