It appears that the Charlotte region will see little impact from Hurricane Matthew this weekend, the National Weather Service said Wednesday morning. ‘The way it looks right now, it’s not much of a big deal for the Charlotte area,’ meteorologist Justin Lane said. ‘It looks like the impact will be pretty minimal.’ That’s because Matthew, now a Category 3 storm, is expected to veer sharply east and to sea after hugging the coast from Jacksonville, Fla., to Charleston, he said. A high pressure system in the Atlantic that was expected to strengthen and push Matthew into a landfall somewhere in the Carolinas is now predicted to weaken slightly Friday. That could be enough to allow the big storm to veer away from the coast and move farther offshore. Forecasters cautioned that even a small change in the storm’s path could make a big difference in the Carolinas. That altered track greatly lessens the possible impact of Matthew on the immediate Charlotte area. An earlier forecast showed a possibility of gusty winds and up to 4 inches of rain in Charlotte, but with the new track, meteorologists said the Charlotte area likely would get only light rain. School officials in counties east of Charlotte didn’t take a chance, rescheduling a number of high school football games from Friday night to Thursday evening. On Monday, Gov. Pat McCrory declared a State of Emergency for 66 counties in central and eastern North Carolina, from the coast to west of Winston-Salem. Evacuations began at 5 a.m. Wednesday on Ocracoke Island, off the Outer Banks. No other evacuations have been ordered yet.(Charlotte Observer)
Links to Charlotte area weather forecast sites are posted on Jayski.com’s Charlotte race info page.
Current forecast for Friday and Saturday (as of Wednesday, Oct 5th, 11:00pm/et):
Friday: Rain likely. High 69F. Winds NNE at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 90%. Rainfall around a half an inch.
Friday Night: Watching the tropics. Rain. Low 66F. Winds NNE at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 90%. Rainfall around a half an inch.
Saturday: Watching the tropics. Rain early’¦then remaining cloudy with showers in the afternoon. High 72F. Winds NNE at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 90%. Rainfall near a half an inch.
Saturday Night: Mostly cloudy skies early, then partly cloudy after midnight. Low 62F. Winds N at 10 to 20 mph.
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