Chantal moved across North Carolina as a tropical depression, yet the rainfall it brought caused the Haw River to crest at a level inches below the record, which was observed during Hurricane Fran.
As of 4:30 a.m. Monday, July 7, the river was cresting at around 32.5 feet at I-40. During Hurricane Fran in 1996, the river reached a level of 32.8 feet at the same point, the National Weather Service Forecast Office in Raleigh reported in a morning briefing.
Upstream from that location, the National Weather Service recorded one of the highest rainfall totals from Chantal, which made landfall in South Carolina as a tropical storm early Sunday, July 6. Along the Haw River in the town of Haw River in Alamance County, about 7.8 inches of rain had fallen over the past 24 hours as of 9 a.m. July 7. About 9.4 inches of rain were recorded over the past seven days.
Other high rainfall totals in North Carolina were reported at Booker Creek at Piney Mountain Road in Chapel Hill (7.27 inches over 24 hours), Bolin Creek at Village Drive in Chapel Hill (7.16 inches over 24 hours) and the Eno River at Cole Mill Road in Durham County (6.18 inches over 24 hours)…