Update on the weather: A severe thunderstorm warning is in place for Chatham, Durham, and sections of Wake…

Update on the weather: A severe thunderstorm warning is in place for Chatham, Durham, and sections of Wake

4:00 p.m. Update for Saturday: Until 4:15 p.m. on Saturday, the National Weather Service has issued a severe thunderstorm warning for central North Carolina. Northeastern Chatham, Durham, and central Wake counties are included in this. The NWS states that hail damage to cars is anticipated. Up until 4:15 p.m., wind damage to trees, siding, and roofs might occur, with gusts reaching 60 mph.

There is still a watch for severe thunderstorms until nine o’clock at night. A flood watch is in effect for Central North Carolina through midnight tonight. By the end of the day, a system that forecasters have been keeping an eye on all week is predicted to develop into a tropical storm, placing portions of Florida under storm surge and hurricane watch. By the middle of the week, North Carolina is probably going to experience significant rain and flooding.

The National Hurricane Center forecasted on Saturday afternoon that the weather system, which was still classified as “Tropical Depression Four” at 2:00 p.m., would strengthen over the southeast Gulf of Mexico and turn into a tropical storm later that day. The storm’s future path and severity are unknown, according to Chrissy Anderson, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service’s prediction office in Raleigh, but as of Saturday morning, it was “going over Cuba and Cuba has lots of mountainous terrain.” Much will rely on how slowly the storm progresses up the coast into the Florida peninsula until it reaches the gulf, the Lower Key islands, and the west side of Florida, which have extremely warm seas, she said.