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From D.C. Linton, Beaufort County Emergency Services:

Our office is monitoring the forecast of an approaching front moving through this afternoon that could produce heavy rainfall, isolated strong to severe thunderstorms, strong winds, coastal flooding, and dangerous marine conditions.  The current forecast for Beaufort County includes:

Rain

• Rain chances will increase after lunch today, and continue through Friday, with most areas currently forecasted to receive 3” to 6” of rainfall.
• Our heaviest rains are currently expected to occur between Thursday afternoon and Friday.

Winds

• Our forecasted winds will transition through various intensities and directions as follows:
  • Thursday-Friday: Isolated storms with wind gusts up to 50mph.

Flooding

• Periods of heavy rain could cause flooding in the low-lying areas of the county.

Severe Storms

• Possible Severe thunderstorms could affect the County starting after lunch today and going into Friday, with the peak of the storms from 5 pm Thursday to midnight Friday.

What To Watch For

• Again, there are a lot of factors playing into the forecast of this approaching system and many of the details remain unclear. We encourage everyone to pay particular attention to the following potentials:
  • Increasing Wind Gust Values – The latest forecast trends suggest that wind gusts could increase for our area, with some models referencing gusts ranging between 45 and 50 mph for Thursday afternoon going into early Friday during Isolated storms.
  • Surge / Inundation Values – Again, the forecasted wind conditions will impact the levels along our waterways. We anticipate having details pertaining to this level in future forecast updates from the National Weather Service.

Please see below and attached briefing from the National Weather Service (NWS) for additional information. Our office will continue to pass along updates as we receive them.

From the National Weather Service, Morehead City:

A weak front moving into NC today will produce scattered to numerous showers and thunderstorms this afternoon and evening. The thunderstorms will have the potential to produce damaging winds, large hail, and torrential downpours.

The Storm Prediction Center has issued a Slight Risk of Severe Thunderstorms (Level 2 of 5) for all of eastern NC today. In addition, The NWS in Morehead City/Newport has issued a Flash Flood Watch for most of eastern NC. The strongest thunderstorms will have the potential to produce over 2 inches of rainfall in an hour which could lead to flash flooding.

Showers and thunderstorms with heavy downpours will remain in the forecast through the weekend with an additional threat for flooding in urban and poor drainage areas.

NWS Morehead City Severe Weather Briefing #1 for May 27, 2024