The same storm system that brought destructive tornados to Oklahoma and Louisiana will visit the Cape Fear region today, but it won’t pack quite the same wallop.
The National Weather Service Wilmington office sent out an advisory this morning that the area has a two in five chance of seeing severe thunderstorms, high winds and torrential rains this afternoon, then again tonight. Severe storms could continue through Thursday morning.
“A few strong to severe thunderstorms are possible with damaging wind gusts to 60 miles per hour,” said NWS Meteorologist Steve Pfaff. “An isolated tornado is possible.”
The area could see one to three inches of rain in some areas, so localized flooding could be experienced in lowlying areas.
While the heavy rains will continue into Thursday, the weekend is expected to have drying conditions.
The storm sent a major F3 tornado through the New Orleans parish of Arabi Tuesday night, along with an F1 a few miles away in St. Tammany. One person has been confirmed dead, and dozens of homes were damaged or destroyed.
