Severe Weather Hits Triangle Area

The tornado watch has expired.

But the bad weather had diminished by late afternoon, and damage appeared to be minimal.

Though there could be more rain Wednesday night, WRAL chief meteorologist Greg Fishel had declared the worst of the weather over for the Triangle area by 5 p.m.

Fishel said another band bringing colder weather would come through the area Wednesday night. But he added that "it hasn't amounted to a hill of beans all afternoon" and that the next few days should be clear.

The Wednesday morning conditions made driving and visibility difficult, and some flooding also was reported. But there were no reports of damage or lightning.

There were reports of flooding and high winds in Durham, and trees down in Burlington.

The wind in Durham was so strong downtown that a DATA bus-stop shelter was blown over next to the courthouse.

There were 3,600 power outages reported in the area between 11:30 a.m.-noon, mainly in Zebulon and Fuquay-Varina. Power had been restored by 5 p.m.