{"id":6765,"date":"2026-07-22T20:06:27","date_gmt":"2026-07-22T20:06:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/raleighmovingnews.com\/?p=6765"},"modified":"2026-07-22T20:06:27","modified_gmt":"2026-07-22T20:06:27","slug":"alert-day-flooding-rain-and-gusty-storms-arrive-in-central-nc-wednesday-night","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/raleighmovingnews.com\/?p=6765","title":{"rendered":"Alert Day: Flooding rain and gusty storms arrive in central NC Wednesday night"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Heavy rain, damaging wind gusts, and isolated tornadoes are possible tonight into Thursday as a slow-moving cold front slides through the area.<\/p>

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A flood watch is in effect for all of central North Carolina as the risk of flash flooding increases.<\/p>\n

Current forecasts have 2-4 inches of rain falling across the area. Some of that rain could fall during a short period of time, or over an extended period of time. Both of these cause issues for flooding because if it happens quickly, the drains and ground struggle to handle the water and flash flooding occurs quickly.<\/p>\n

But if the rain occurs over the same areas over a long timeframe, the ground ends up holding so much water that it can\u2019t hold anymore and the excess rain runs off or puddles, causing more flooding concerns.<\/p>\n

Additionally, as the cold front arrives Wednesday night, it will create a broken line of storms which could also produce damaging winds gusts in addition to an isolated tornado.<\/p>\n

While the risk for damaging wind and tornadoes decreases by Thursday morning, that is when the flooding risk kicks into high gear. As we mentioned above, inches of rain are expected across the area due to the cold front.<\/p>\n

The rain will end from north to south, with areas near Virginia drying out by as early as Thursday afternoon, while the southern Coastal Plain and the Sandhills will likely still have persistent rain through Thursday evening, with another round possible Friday morning.<\/p>\n

The good news is that behind that front we will see cooler air for a few days. Highs will be in the 80s and overnight lows will fall into the mid 60s for a few days.<\/p>

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We won\u2019t totally dry out as the front will be close enough that lingering showers will persist off and on through the weekend. The break from the heat will be nice, but next week temperatures return to their typical July levels, in the low 90s.<\/p>\n