The Cape Fear region was spared the worst of yesterday’s severe storms, but there’s still the possibility of strong winds in the area.
According to weather forecaster Dave Loewenthal of the National Weather Service in Wilmington, a wind advisory is still in effect until 2 p.m. for the region, including New Hanover, Brunswick and Pender counties.
“We’re still experiencing some gusts out there,” Loewenthal said.
The peak wind gust in New Hanover County yesterday clocked in at 53 miles per hour. It was recorded at Wilmington International Airport at 3:53 p.m., according to Loewenthal.
“We had no damage reported,” said ILM’s Deputy Director Gary Broughton. “We fared very well.”
According to Broughton, American Airlines canceled nine flights to Charlotte, Philadelphia and New York – LaGuardia as the storm moved toward those areas. Delta, the airport’s other major carrier, had no cancellations. Both airlines had several delays.
“Safety is the most important thing to airlines, so that’s why there were delays and cancellations,” said Broughton, saying there was no damage reported to planes sitting on the tarmac. “The wind was our biggest enemy here.”
In Pender County, the strongest wind gust was 44 mph, which happened south of Maple Hill at 3:18 p.m. Brunswick County got hit late, with their strongest wind gust recorded in Boiling Springs Lake at 11:18 p.m. That was measured at 45 mph.
There is also a gale warning still in effect for mariners until 2 p.m.
Though other counties in eastern North Carolina reported large hail ranging in size from one inch to golf-ball sized, the tri-county area did not get much precipitation. According to Loewenthal, a little over half an inch of rain was recorded at ILM on Wednesday.
