Distant Western NC Afternoon Thunderstorm | 09/05/26 | Nebo, NC

Timestamps are below! On September 5th, 2026, a slight risk was issued for a large swath of North Carolina and northern South Carolina. These storms formed along a cold front that moved south from Virginia and Tennessee, with many cells forming along I-40, eventually forming a line north of US 74. I decided to do something different today and travel a little ways into an area that gets frequent thunderstorms, especially during severe weather events. Storms were widespread, so I figured I would get a little show in this area. Unfortunately, the core of this storm did not fall over this spot, and instead passed by to the west. I did get a heavy downpour and notably a lot of lightning, but no high winds or hail. The core of the storm was not far from me though. These storms also behaved very odd for the area, they started up quick, traveled a little ways and then disappear. This is typical for mountain thunderstorms, especially around Asheville. But this area is a little more flat, and mountains are not very tall, and even once the line formed around US 74, the individual cells within the line were not lasting long. This storm was severe-warned and was producing 60 mph gusts and quarter size hail. This particular cell did not cause any power outages, though I did see a lot of tree damage along US 64 in northeastern Rutherford County, not far from where I was, should have went there instead. Shelby was hit notably hard, with large power outages in the area. I filmed this at the South Mountains Game Lands in the community of Dysartsville in far southeastern McDowell County. This is an area I have seen severe thunderstorms hit time and time again. Technically the area is addressed as Nebo. As always, thanks for watching and hopefully we’ll see something else soon. Quality for this video was modified with CapCut. Timestamps: 00:00 Video starts with approaching storm to my northwest, storm moves south to my west, rain is also beginning to fall 04:50 Storm clouds seen here are developing storm clouds that kickstart the line of storms 08:40 Rain begins to pick up 11:03 Very close strike, flash visible, there was a bright white bolt above the trees but the camera didn’t catch it 12:45 Rain begins to fall back to a steady pace, remains that way the rest of the video as main cell passes by 13:44 Not super close but noisy, bolt visible 16:12 Close strike, double bolts visible 16:57 Not super close but noisy, bolt visible 18:07 Not close but noisy, bolt visible 18:34 Noisy distant strike, part of bolt visible on the very top of the screen 20:56 Noisy distant strike, bolt visible 21:32 Moderately close strike, bolt visible, another bolt is seen on the left as the thunder hits 24:36 Distant strike, bolt visible in the other side of the mountain on the left, after this it’s mostly just constant thunder and occasional flashes