By Steve Huffman

shuffman@salisburypost.com

A summer storm rolled through Rowan and surrounding counties about 6 p.m. Wednesday, leaving a number of homes and businesses without power, but apparently doing little in the way of major damage.

"This is typical weather for us in the summer," said Shirley Moore, a spokeswoman for Duke Energy. "We'll be working into the night to get all the power restored."

As of about 10 p.m., about 3,100 customers in Rowan County were without power according to the Duke Energy Web site. Outages included several blocks of West Innes Street and neighborhoods close to Rowan Regional Medical Center.

Jeffrey Taylor, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service near Greenville, S.C., said the storm was more severe to the west of Rowan County, near Charlotte.

"It was a pretty good system that picked up speed as it moved through," he said. "Charlotte took the worst. They had more trees down. But we had pretty strong winds in that whole area."

Taylor said the system was building throughout the day, created by a combination of moist air and instability in the upper atmosphere. He said the likelihood of a repeat today is slim.

"It should calmer," Taylor said. "Nothing nearly so widespread."

The weekend, he said, will be hot and dry, with the temperature reaching the mid-90s by Sunday afternoon, before dropping later in the week.