Charlotte receives around 1,080 mm (about 43 inches) of rain a year, spread fairly evenly through the seasons with a summer peak from convective thunderstorms and occasional heavy rain from tropical systems that track inland from the Carolina coast. The city’s rapid urban growth in recent decades has increased impervious surface area substantially, meaning intense summer downpours now produce faster, more significant street flooding than the same rainfall would have a generation ago. Remnants of hurricanes and tropical storms can also bring extended heavy rain well inland from the coast. Because both fast local storms and inland tropical rainfall matter here, radar is a genuinely practical everyday tool. NWS Doppler radar KGSP (Greenville-Spartanburg) covers the region.
Learn more: How Does Rain Radar Work? · Open the full Rain Map