Flood watch up; heaviest expected tonight

Well, we've done it ... gone from talking about a drought one day, to worrying about flooding the next.

The National Weather Service has issued a flood watch until Monday evening for nearly all the Charlotte region. Technically, Lancaster and Chesterfield counties of South Carolina are not included, but they could be.

Forecasters say 4 to 6 inches of rain could fall by early Tuesday morning in our area, with the heaviest precipitation expected overnight. Despite the lack of rain for the past month, 4 to 6 inches of rain in a 48-hour period means possible trouble. Hence, the flood watch, despite our dry conditions in recent weeks.

There also is a chance for severe weather tonight, in a corridor from Monroe westward to near Spartanburg -- including Charlotte, Rock Hill and possibly Gastonia. But we'll worry about that later. For now, let's talk about the rain.

Going to the Panthers' game this afternoon. Bring a poncho. Rain moved into the Charlotte area about 11 a.m., and Doug Outlaw, of the National Weather Service's office in Greenville-Spartanburg, said all indications are the showers and thundershowers will increase in coverage this afternoon.

My guess is the highest probability of flooding will be from about midnight until noon Monday, especially in the overnight hours.

The morning commute Monday could be absolutely lovely.

One more thing ... temperatures will start falling this afternoon. The rain is cooling the atmosphere, so our mid 70s of this morning will turn into upper 60s and low 70s this afternoon.

More to come later today, I suspect.