MECKLENBURG COUNTY, N.C. — Storms moved through Mecklenburg County and the surrounding area Saturday afternoon, leaving behind thousands of power outages in addition to some damage due to wind and hail.
A Severe Thunderstorm Warning was issued for Mecklenburg County shortly before 5:15 p.m. Saturday and was canceled around 6:45 p.m. Then just before 7 p.m., the Severe Thunderstorm Warning in effect for Union County was canceled.
The National Weather Service initially reported 60 mph wind gusts and quarter-sized hail for the storms as they moved through the area, and predicted ahead of time that the wind could damage trees and power lines.
WCNC Chief Meteorologist Brad Panovich said in a 5:35 p.m. update that he expected the storm to come with lightning, potentially damaging straight-line winds and localized flooding.
Shortly after 7 p.m., Duke Energy's outage maps showed over 17,000 outages in the Charlotte and Mecklenburg County area. As of 11 p.m. Saturday, outage maps showed over 5,000 outages.
In Matthews, where the majority of outages were initially reported, Duke Energy cited the causes as objects coming into contact with power lines. For other outages, Duke Energy did not provide a known cause.
At this time, WCNC Charlotte has not seen any reports of other damage or injuries due to the storms.