GREENVILLE, S.C. (FOX Carolina) – Potential Tropical Cyclone One is developing over the Gulf, but the Western Carolinas won’t see direct impacts from the system itself. Instead, the tropical moisture from PTC One interacts with a cold front pushing down from the northwest Thursday evening through Friday. This combination brings rain, gusty winds, and storm potential to our region. First Alert Weather Days are in effect for both Thursday and Friday.
What Is Potential Tropical Cyclone One?
Potential Tropical Cyclone One represents a developing disturbance that the NHC classifies when a system isn’t yet an official tropical cyclone, but poses an immediate threat to develop into one and bring tropical storm or hurricane-force winds to land within 48 hours. This designation allows the National Hurricane Center to issue warnings and watches before formal tropical cyclone development — giving communities critical time to prepare.
Since 2017, the NHC has issued Potential Tropical Cyclone advisories for 30 systems. Only three failed to develop into actual tropical cyclones. That’s an extremely high success rate — which is why these advisories carry significant weight.
The Track: Northeast Into the Gulf
Potential Tropical Cyclone One is moving northeast from southern Texas into the northwestern Gulf. It could become a tropical storm during the day Wednesday right off the Texas coast. If it officially becomes a tropical storm, it would mark the first named storm of the 2026 hurricane season. The first name on the list is Arthur.
The system then moves back onshore late Wednesday near the Texas-Louisiana border. The strongest impacts — heavy rain, damaging winds, and storm potential — remain focused on the Gulf Coast, Lower Mississippi Valley, and Southeast states.
For the Western Carolinas, the system’s remnant tropical moisture stream into the region Thursday through Friday as it interacts with a cold front approaching from the northwest. This combination brings rain and gusty winds to our area, but we’re not getting direct impacts.
Thursday & Friday: First Alert Weather Day — Rain & Gusty Winds Arrive
The tropical moisture from PTC One combines with the approaching cold front Thursday evening, bringing showers and thunderstorms to the Western Carolinas. Rain develops Thursday afternoon and becomes numerous overnight, continuing through Friday evening.
The timing: Rain develops Thursday afternoon, intensifies Thursday night into Friday morning, then persists through Friday evening.
Wind impacts: Southwest winds sustain around 20 mph with gusts between 25-35 mph, particularly in the afternoon and evening. Bring in anything loose outside and secure trash cans…