Severe thunderstorm causes power outages, fallen trees

Power outages peaked Thursday night when more than 10,000 Duke Energy customers were in the dark. That number included 6,400 in Durham County, 4,300 in Wake County and 254 in Franklin County.

By Friday morning, power was restored to most customers, though roughly 1,600 around Raleigh were still waiting on repairs.

Thursday's warm, humid weather gives way after dark to a 30 percent chance for thunderstorms in the Triangle. Those storms could get severe in communities along the Virginia line and east of Raleigh.

"Damaging wind and large hail are the biggest threats, but an isolated tornado is certainly possible," Maze said.

"It may be from about 6 o'clock to about midnight or 1 a.m., and I think overnight past that should be quiet."

To go along with the threat for severe weather, temperatures will plummet, too.

"A cooler air mass coming in will really cut things off around midnight," Maze said.

That weather system will move into North Carolina from the north and bring a shift in the winds, from southwest to northeast.

After an afternoon high that reached 90 degrees in Fayetteville, temperatures will fail to get out of the 60s on Friday under cloudy skies.

The chance of rain and highs in the 60s stick around through Saturday.

"Our best chance of rain is likely to be during the day on Saturday with (a) 70 percent (chance)," WRAL meteorologist Elizabeth Gardner said. "That may, of course, influence your weekend plans."