HELL ON QUEENS!

[swampfox43]

No, this isn't the latest rant from city councilman Bill James. It's what I witnessed first hand during the most violent storm I have seen in Charlotte this year. Queens Rd was so littered with branches and debris you couldn't even see the pavement. Reminded me of Hugo with hints of the major ice storm of 200(3?). Piles of hail stones still visible as if it just snowed!

Queens & Princeton Ave was under water! I didn't even know that area was a flood zone. I had to drive on the other side of Queens just to get through (followed the other cars). I was absoltutely stunned at the damage all around.

Then, just when I thought I had seen it all came Selwyn Ave. Large oak trees down blocking the road. When I finally reached my home I was looking at a time lapse, color coded radar on the internet. That area along Queens & Selwyn was color coded purple! I really feel for the people who sustained damage.

Wish I had had my camera. Mo?

[Mobuchu]

Wish I had had my camera. Mo?

[A2]

I live right off Selwyn Ave in Southpark and can confirm that the damage was incredible. Some of the trees that fell were of the 100+ year old variety. I was briefly out of power, but was fortunate to have mine come back on. I hate to see some of our green canopy gone, but fortunately no one was hurt or killed by this lastest rash of severe storms.

A2

[cltheel.sdl]

Yeah, it's really weird, b/c I also live in S. Charlotte (Providence & 485) and only got a little bit of thunder and light rain. It's crazy what the difference is in just a matter of a couple miles. Hope all our forumers were safe and now have power.

[Justadude]

Didn't get anything but thunder and drizzle uptown, hard to believe such serious damage was happening only a short couple of miles away.

[ScottCLT]

I live uptown, and was completely looking forward to the storm when I heard the thunder (I love watching the lightening in a summer afternoon storm). But, we got nothing but 10 minutes of rain and a little wind.

I went up 7th St./Monroe later on, though, and I couldn't believe the damage. Trees down left and right, blocking both directions of traffic. Many stop lights were out. Some of the trees look like they had been around for a while, too.

[Bocephus]

I was in Eliazabeth on a friends porch when the storm started we watched it for a while then the wind was the worst I have ever seen so we all ran inside and thought a tornado was coming. When we looed outside a couple minutes later after flipping on the news greenway was flooding and the water was up to my bumper.

After the storm we all went riding around and there were trees down everywhere it was incredible, there was a tree blocking greenway and a smashed acura on down the road.

[voyager12]

I am dogsitting just off Belvedere in PM where some of the worst tree damage was. Close to The VanLandingham House. We did not have power all night so we dogtaxied home to Dilworth where we did not lose power. Those were some massive trees that went down on Belvedere. Luckily they missed houses and people. I am really hoping we don't get as bad of an instant replay this afternoon....

[turbocraig]

I live uptown, and was completely looking forward to the storm when I heard the thunder (I love watching the lightening in a summer afternoon storm). But, we got nothing but 10 minutes of rain and a little wind.

[swh1972]

In Uptown, there was a fairly large tree down outside of Cosmos (6th & College), and a number of traffic lights were out. Lost power for a moment, and a handful of smaller trees are down, but doesn't sound as bad as other areas.

[cltheel.sdl]

This storm must really have been hit/miss. I'm sure the difference between weather conditions was drastic even over a matter of a couple of blocks. This afternoon they are calling for similar storms - hopefully areas that were hit won't be hit again today.

[elvigy]

This storm must really have been hit/miss. I'm sure the difference between weather conditions was drastic even over a matter of a couple of blocks. This afternoon they are calling for similar storms - hopefully areas that were hit won't be hit again today.

[swampfox43]

Below is a video clip from Channel 14 News.

I still can't help but snicker at how bad the weather forecasters missed the mark. On Friday, at least 2 local weathermen said "sunny skies, hot temps, all weekend with no chance of rain". And as I type this, it is raining like crazy in Pineville.

AFTERMATH NEWS CLIP

[abttown]

^Well this time of year it is almost impossible to predict who will get wet and who will stay dry. What is odd is how much rain Charlotte/Mecklenburg county has seen and continues to see almost every week! Up here in the foothills it is sooo dry that my grass is almost dead and I've already given up on my garden. At this point I would take the severe weather just to get a little water!

[RaleighHeelsfan]

Below is a video clip from Channel 14 News.

I still can't help but snicker at how bad the weather forecasters missed the mark. On Friday, at least 2 local weathermen said "sunny skies, hot temps, all weekend with no chance of rain". And as I type this, it is raining like crazy in Pineville.

AFTERMATH NEWS CLIP

[swampfox43]

The weather forecasters did not "miss the mark"

Did they not call for T-storms? This can happen any day during the summer in NC. You got a T-storm with a down burst. It happens every summer, everyday somewhere in NC.

[Spartan]

Yeah this was a pretty bad storm. Definitely hit or miss. I live Uptown, and I didn't get a drop. I was driving around Elizabeth/Queens Rd/Randolph Rd area shortly after the storm had passed, and it looked like a war zone. Tree limbs and debris were everywhere. One tree had literally exploded, with several large chunks of it laying on the road. Another had fallen accross Randolph, blocking all traffic. So I turned around and made a right onto Laurel Ave, only to find the creek had come up over the bridge. Fire trucks, ambulances, and police were everywhere. It was really a bad day to go for a drive.

But part of the problem is that most people don't associate things like this with thunderstorms. In reality, when meterologists tell you to take severe thunderstorm warnings seriously, this is why. Thunderstorms can be very dangerous with straight line winds and frequent cloud to ground lightning like you saw yesterday.

[monsoon]

Same kind of storm hit the Denver side of the lake last summer and tore up a bunch of docks. Peeps had to be careful where they drove their boats lest they hit some of the debris. On the problems above, a lot of it could be avoided if people would call in a tree guy every so often to prune back and remove unstable trees.

[DigitalSky]

This storm must really have been hit/miss. I'm sure the difference between weather conditions was drastic even over a matter of a couple of blocks. This afternoon they are calling for similar storms - hopefully areas that were hit won't be hit again today.

[PlazaMidwoodGuy]

Here in Midwood we had extensive damage from Saturday's storm. Plenty of mature trees across streets, on houses, cars, etc. It was not pretty. I was home during the storm and I can honestly say I haven't witnessed winds that strong since Hugo blew threw in '89. It was like something out of a movie at one point. Unfortunately, there are now some noticeable holes in the tree canopy here in Midwood (in addition to the hole made by Pfahl Builders where they clearcut the lot at Truman and Belvedere! ).

Here are a few photos I snapped with my cell phone camera Saturday afternoon.

[cltheel.sdl]

Wow - looks intense!

[turbocraig]

Oh no! I used to live at 2120 Chambwood a few years ago. It looks like that little horseshoe got slammed. That's sickening to see.

[PlazaMidwoodGuy]

Oh no! I used to live at 2120 Chambwood a few years ago. It looks like that little horseshoe got slammed. That's sickening to see.

[Raintree21]

Welcome to North Carolina. If you don't like the weather, wait 15 minutes, it'll change.

[Vitamin_N]

We were driving toward Noda when it happened, and it's the strongest storm I've personally witnessed. It was really freaky... we were on Caldwell headed north waiting at the stoplight at the 277 overpass. Right where we were it was moderately stormy--solid rain, a little wind. But literally right across the street, it looked like one of those hurricane videos you see on the weather channel. The traffic lights were being blown upside down, the street sign was twisted 180 degrees by the wind, and the rain looked like a solid wall. Then the light changed, we drive into it, and it was like a light switch was turned on--the difference was that dramatic. We could hardly see a thing because the wind was whipping the rain around so much.