Big question: Where is Tuesday's flooding?

Meteorologists aren't even saying "if," when discussing Tuesday's chances of flash flooding somewhere in the Charlotte region.

The question is "where."

"The abundant moisture virtually guarantees that some locations will receive heavy rainfall," Harry Gerapetritis, of the National Weather Service office in Greer, S.C., said early Tuesday morning. "But the exact location remains in doubt."

The set-up is the same as Monday. The remnants of Hurricane Isaac have settled over the Southeast, turning the atmosphere into a tropical powder keg. The atmosphere is extremely moist, and all it takes is a little daytime heating to create strong thunderstorms.

On Monday, the rainfall bullseye missed Charlotte's uptown, fortunately. The Stanly County city of Albemarle, about 40 miles northeast of Charlotte, was hit hardest. Radar estimates show that more than 4 inches of rain fell in a few hours.

Albemarle police report having to rescue stranded motorists on flooded streets.

Similar heavy rain was reported in eastern Iredell and Davie counties, north of Charlotte.

There is no way to predict where the heavy rain will fall Tuesday.

"It could happen just about anywhere," Chris Horne, also of the Weather Service's office in Greer, said early Tuesday morning. He said the atmosphere will be a bit more stable, which will lessen the chances of severe thunderstorms with damaging wind gusts and large hail.

"But there will be about the same chance of heavy rain," he said. "We're predicting numerous showers and storms as the day goes on."

If anything, the activity might start earlier than Monday, perhaps in the late morning hours.

Gerapetritis says a flash flood watch might be needed somewhere in the Piedmont by later Tuesday morning.

Wednesday looks "about the same as Tuesday," Horne said. "We still think the coverage will be numerous."

Thursday outlook ... Forecasters still think the thunderstorm chances will be lower Thursday than earlier in the week. With President Obama scheduled to speak about 10 p.m. at Bank of America Stadium, and a nine-hour program of live music scheduled before that, the forecast is important.

Horne said thunderstorms will be possible. In fact, the chance of severe weather might be higher Thursday than on Tuesday or Wednesday. But the overall coverage of storms will be less. And by evening, storm chances will decrease.

Translated ... there will be fewer storms, but they could be strong. And the highest chance of storms will be during the daytime portion of the program.