Windy, cool day ahead
Gusty winds and cool temperatures are in store for most of the Carolinas today, in the wake of several days of severe weather across the region.A few showers are expected in the mountains during the day, but the rest of the Charlotte metro region will see mostly sunny skies and breezy conditions.The northwest winds are being caused by the circulation around a strong storm system in the Northeast -- the same system responsible for the stormy weather that caused tornadoes and damaging thunderstorms over the weekend.A high wind warning is posted in the mountains, and a lake wind advisory is in effect in the Piedmont. Winds are gusting to near 30 mph today in Charlotte, and that has blown tree limbs and other debris onto roadways this morning. Motorists should pay attention for those problems.The winds also have been a problem in the mountains, where they are gusting over 60 mph. That means downed trees and power limbs, and both Duke Energy and Progress Energy report thousands of power outages. For Duke Energy, the biggest problem is in Rutherford County, with more than 3,700 outages at 6:30 a.m. More than 1,800 outages are reported in Henderson County.For Progress Energy, the biggest problem is in Haywood County -- specifically, the Canton area, about 15 miles west of Asheville. There were more than 1,800 outages in and near Canton at 6:30 a.m.In the Charlotte area, we'll have mostly sunny skies, gusty northwest winds, and high temperatures near 70 degrees today. That is nearly 10 degrees below normal for this time of year.Lows on Tuesday morning are expected to drop into the middle 40s, which is nearly 15 degrees below normal. But highs will rebound into the middle and upper 70s Tuesday and Wednesday. Then the next frontal system is forecast to arrive, bringing a chance of rainfall Thursday through Saturday.
Charlotte.com  –  May 12, 2008 10:33 AM [GMT]
found in Local: North Carolina: Charlotte