Storms Bring High Winds, Heavy Rain

Severe thunderstorms have pushed through Raleigh and are rumbling eastward, prompting warnings in Wayne, Wilson and Nash counties.

Posted 10:28 a.m. Mar 4, 2008 — Updated 5:05 a.m. Mar 5, 2008

RALEIGH, N.C. — Severe thunderstorms have pushed through Raleigh and are rumbling eastward, prompting warnings in Franklin, Wayne, Wilson and Nash counties until 12:30 a.m.

Storms that began before the sun set roared from west to east Tuesday night, leaving a trail of downed trees, power outages and high rainfall totals.

In counties to the west, where the storms passed through earlier, numerous reports of wind damage were starting to come in, Maze said. A tree was reported downed on a house at Richardson Avenue near Rembrandt Road in Cumberland County.

Duke Energy reported 45,000 customers were without power. Progress Energy reported 4,300 customers affected in Wake County and about 1,600 affected in North Raleigh.

The National Weather Service issued a warning for small-stream flooding in Orange, Durham, Alamance, Lee, Person and Moore counties until early Wednesday morning. RDU reported rainfall of 1.92 inches through 11:30 p.m., and wind gusts topping out at 48 mph.

The first round of storms blew through during the evening rush hour, bringing reports of wind damage and hail in Orange and Guilford counties. The National Weather Service reported three trees downed north of NC Highway 157 near Caldwell.

The storms are the leading edge of a cold front which will see temperatures drop into the upper 40s overnight.

Wednesday will dawn sunny and mild, Maze said. Midday temperatures will climb into the mid 60s Wednesday and Thursday before the chance of rain returns on Friday.

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