Upstate Dodges Lee's Rains

The Upstate was spared the worst of the wrath of Tropical Storm Lee's remnants, which battered other parts of the south over Labor Day weekend. 

Doug Outlaw, meteorologist for the National Weather Service in Greenville, said that while a tornado watch was in effect for both the Hickory and Charlotte areas of North Carolina until 8 p.m. on Tuesday, Greenville County was in the clear. 

"We don't have any warnings in our area. There is just a line of showers moving through the Charlotte area, and the very last band of showers is actually moving through Shelby and Morganton, N.C.," Outlaw said. "Locations in the Upstate and in the mountains of North Carolina are seeing improving conditions." 

Lee's remnants spun off Tornados in nearby Georgia and dumped massive amounts of rain in areas west of Greenville County. Models had initially called for flooding potential due to the probability of heavy rain.

But the rainfall totals ended up being relatively paltry, with less than a half-inch being reported near downtown Greenville, and 1.38 inches being reported in the Table Rock area in northwestern Greenville County. 

"We missed out on the heaviest of the rain," Outlaw said. "It didn't get as bad as we were initially anticipating."

Areas to the west of the system didn't fare as well. Chattanooga, Tennessee saw 9.8 inches of rain. 

"The storm just evolved differently than expected. The heaviest of the rain stayed to the west of the area. Since the rain stayed over there, we just got the outer fringes of the rain," Outlaw said. 

He added that they had received no confirmed reports of damage in the Upstate due to the storm. 

"We did get a few showers and storms to cross the Upstate yesterday, and we did issue a few tornado warnings, but we had no confirmed damage," Outlaw said.