The National Weather Service on Saturday issued a severe thunderstorm watch for more than 50 counties across North Carolina, including Wake, Durham and Orange counties.
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As of 3:30 p.m., Duke Energy reported more than 5,000 customers were without power in Durham County and more than 6,500 in Wake County.
A watch means that the risk of the weather event has significantly increased, though timing or location is still uncertain, according to NWS. The watch is in effect for those counties until 8 p.m.
NWS on Saturday morning issued a hazardous weather outlook for nearly 20 counties — including Wake, Durham and Orange — that forecast scattered thunderstorms with strong wind gusts in central North Carolina that could move toward the southeast in the afternoon and evening.
The forecast also showed heat index values in the upper 90s to near 105 degrees before and between storms, according to NWS.
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Hazardous weather on Sunday “is not expected at this time,” the forecast said.
NWS meteorologist Jonathan Blaes told The News & Observer that “not everybody’s going to get walloped,” but to “keep an eye to the sky” for dangerous weather.
He said the service is watching a line of thunderstorms develop around the Virginia and North Carolina border that are expected to first move west through the Triad and then south toward north Charlotte.
Blaes said the storms are then expected to move east and southeast with lightning, rain and “strong and potentially damaging winds.”
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He said the Triangle area should be most alert between 3 and 6 p.m.
This story was originally published September 5, 2026 at 2:15 PM.