LUMBERTON — Lightning providing a light show and heavy rain fell on parts of Robeson County Monday and Tuesday, but little damage and just a few power outages were reported.
Twenty power outages were reported over Monday and Tuesday in Lumberton, said Lamar Brayboy, city Utilities director. Power was returned quickly in all instances.
A few trees were knocked down by outbursts of severe weather, said David Ashburn, Red Springs town manager. A few customers of the town’s electrical utilities department lost power.
“We’ve had a little. Not anything major,” Ashburn said.
No information could be obtained on outaged from Lumbee River Electric Membership or Duke Energy.
The National Weather Service office in Wilmington reported downed tree limbs near the water treatment plant in Maxton.
As of late afternoon Tuesday, about 2.7 inches of rain fell on Lumberton during the past two days, said Dave Loewenthal, an National Weather Service forecaster in Wilmington. That puts Lumberton’s rainfall total for the month at 6.7 inches.
“That is above normal this month,” he said. “We don’t have any river flooding right now. Two to three inches over a wide area could do it.”
The National Weather Service forecast calls for a chance of rain and thunderstorms through Friday.
But, there shouldn’t be any weather-related issues in the next days, Loewenthal said.
“We might get a little lightning and maybe a heavy downpour,” Loewenthal said. “We don’t anticipate having any issues with the rivers, but we’ll keep an eye on it.”
Wednesday’s forecast is for a slight chance of showers and thunderstorms after 3 p.m., according to the National Weather Service. Otherwise, mostly cloudy, with a high near 90. The chance of showers and thunderstorms continues until about 1 a.m. Thursday, with a morning low around 75.
The daytime forecast for Thursday calls for a chance of showers and thunderstorms mainly after 3 p.m., with a high near 96. Heat index values could reach 106.
There is a slight chance of showers and thunderstorms after 9 a.m. on Friday, with a high near 96.