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Morning storms dump rain on central NC; drier weekend ahead

Although central and eastern North Carolina should dry out over the weekend, showers and storms are still possible on the final day of the work week.

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RALEIGH, N.C. — Although central and eastern North Carolina should dry out over the weekend, showers and storms are still possible on the final day of the work week.

A storm with heavy rain and strong winds pushed through Wake County during the mid-morning hours, prompting severe thunderstorm warnings for Wake, Franklin and Nash counties.

Highs Friday will be in the low 80s, with some spotty showers and thunderstorms possible during the afternoon and evening.

Nearly 10 inches of rain fell in parts of the region over the last 48 hours, forcing schools to close and flooding some neighborhoods.

Johnson said the upper-level low that generated the precipitation has moved north and is now "helping drive in drier air on backside."

"We're going to be dry in the mountains and much of the Piedmont today. That will help dry us out, at least most of us," he said.

Temperatures will remain in the low 80s, with partly cloudy skies through the weekend. Highs will drop into the 70s by the middle of next week, when Hurricane Matthew could be moving up the East Coast toward North Carolina.

"We're going to watch this very, very closely," Johnson said of the storm, which strengthened into a Category 2 hurricane overnight. "At this point, it's too soon to tell whether it's going to stay out to sea, whether it's going to come inland."

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