ABC11 Eyewitness News - Eyewitness News at 6pm - July 26, 2026

Episode Date: July 26, 2026

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Right now, live coverage from your local news leader, investigating new information tonight, and your first alert forecast. Here's what's happening where you live. This is ABC 11 eyewitness news. All right now at 6, many people finding ways to cool off today. This was over at the Taste of Raleigh Food Festival. Dry for much of the day with temps in the 80s. However, we have your first alert to the chance for storms overnight. I want to say good Sunday evening, everyone. My name is Dewan Ho. Guard, thank you so much for choosing to spend part of your Sunday evening with us. Now, a cloudy day across our area, and as meteorologist Cruz Medina reports for us right now, we could also see some rain tonight and severe weather in the coming days. I know Cruz and I were just talking about this off air a short while ago. Yes, that risk for strong storms will come on Tuesday. But for tonight, we're also watching some storms that will move in, sometime closer to midnight, and those will push out before you wake up tomorrow morning. But overnight could be a bit rowdy as these storms move in, and then tomorrow again, back to dry conditions. So we're going to be watching for storms to form in central Virginia. These are forming in the mountains.

And as they drop to the south, that is our window to see any storms for the evening hours. The main threat would be damaging winds. This is not going to be a widespread issue. Any slower moving storms could contain some heavy rainfall, so that could lead to isolated instances of flash flooding. But for the time being, it's just mostly cloudy outside. This is North Hills. You can see tipters in Raleigh at 80 degrees after hitting 84 for the high today. 81 in Roxborough and 82 in Goldsboro.

For the overnight hours, the storms, like I said, they're not going to linger into tomorrow morning. So we'll be dry by the time you wake up in most areas. Tipters will be in the mid-60s in Henderson, upper 60s in Raleigh and low 70s in the sand hills. Here's how tomorrow morning looks. Tipters rise pretty quickly. We should already be at 82 by noon,

partly to mostly cloudy in the morning hours, and then we'll reach our highs in the afternoon with more sunshine. Tipter is right around 90 degrees in Raleigh and Fayetteville, 88 the high in Roxborough. A deeper dive into Tuesday severe risk as well as the check of your seven-day forecast that's coming up in just minutes. Duan back to you. Our crews, we'll see you again shortly and with showers and storms over the past few days. We're also getting an update tonight on drought conditions. Tom George, joining us live this evening in Raleigh, Tom, good evening to you. I know that you had a chance to speak with local farmers. What are they sharing with you about

their conversations? Hey, good afternoon. Well, the bottom line is we need that rain. We can take all the rain we can get today. The sky pretty clear out here, but with all that rain that we saw on the past week, this is good, but still not enough for where we need to be. I spoke with some farmers who tell me that this has been a really challenging year for them. Some say it's the worst that they've seen in decades, given the conditions with the drought that we've been seeing right now. And it's also been a challenge for people who are gardening at home. This unpredictable weather we've been seeing plants or vegetables of people's at home gardens just aren't lasting the way that they should.

One farmer from a nursery at the state farmer's market says he's giving people some advice. So the main thing that we tell them, don't buy more than what you can easily keep irrigated. Don't buy more than you can just water easily. You know, we don't want people breaking the water restrictions, but we do, they can still plant. So it's just a matter of planting what you can comfortably keep wet.

He has some good advice there. And keep in mind that both Raleigh and Durham and some of our surrounding areas all do have varying levels of those restrictions in place because of the drought. So because of that, along with the unpredictability of the rain. Some nurseries we spoke with say people are stocking up on things like rain barrels to try and collect the water so they can use it for later because that rain can just be unpredictable. And we could be seeing more rain in the forecast heading into this week. Reporting live, Tom Doors, ABC 11, how with this news? All right, Tom again. Thanks so much.

And on that note, now is a good time to download the free ABC 11 mobile app for the latest watch. warnings. You can also check Doppler net and the seven-day forecast at any time. Well, now to the war with Iran tonight, there's been a temporary pause in the fighting, as the White House says it's considering escalating military force against the country. But now a new report says that might not happen. It comes as Israel's leader, has to the U.S. this week. Here's ABC's Matt Rivers with reaction from lawmakers. After two weeks of trading lethal strikes, a brief lull in the fighting between the U.S. in Iran, but tensions remain high in the region. Over the weekend, U.S. Central

Command says it bordered a ship in the Arabian Sea on suspicion of violating the U.S. blockade of Iran before ultimately letting it go. This says the Houthis and Iranian proxy group in Yemen have opened a new front targeting Saudi oil exports, claiming they hit state-run oil operations in the Saudi Kingdom. They've also declared a maritime blockade on Saudi-linked shipping in the Red Sea's Babel Mandeb Strait, which serves as a vital trade route. Last week, President Trump met with his national security team to discuss next steps. And on Friday said he was considering a massive attack on Iran.

But a new report from the New York Times says the president is backing off because the U.S. weapons stockpile in the Middle East is depleted. We should never have gotten into this senseless war, and we should end it now. I'm glad that they're not going to unload again with a big military strike. That would just drag us more deeply into this conflict. The Trump administration pushing back on the reporting, U.S. ambassador to the U.N. Mike Walls telling NBC, I want to be crystal clear.

The U.S. military, and I've verified this every which way, has everything that it needs to conduct this campaign as effectively as it needs to be. And I have to tell you, the people that are leaking this nonsense deserve to be in jail. The White House tells ABC News the president prefers a diplomatic solution with Iran, but retains all options if attacks continue on the U.S. or allies in the Strait of Hormuz. On Tuesday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is scheduled to meet with president. President Trump, their first face to face since February, where he then argued for joint U.S.-Israeli attacks on Iran just days before the start of the war. Matt Rivers, ABC News. Amman, Jordan. Well, a heads up for the Fort Bragg community. Starting tomorrow, Fort Bragg's All-American Gate will close for two years as major road upgrades began. Several gates will remain open 24-7 with others operating on limited hours.

You can see some of these hours that we have listed on our website. the All-American Gate Visitor Center will remain open during the closure. Well, happening now, Fayetteville is preparing for its next National Night Out. It takes place August 4th, but today is the deadline for organizations to get involved. Groups interested in hosting an event must register by midnight. National Night Out is an annual celebration focused on building stronger neighborhoods and strengthening relationships between the community and law enforcement. Well, coping with loss and the grief that follows can be difficult for many families.

local man, creating a new app to help people cope with the loss of a loved one. We're sharing his story for you next. And we're taking a look at one man's attempt to break a juggling record. Your summer travels deserve an upgrade. With select Chevrolet, Buick, GMC, and Cadillac vehicles connected by OnStar, you can stream, game, and more on the go. Whether you're headed to a music festival or a cottage getaway, you can access hundreds of apps on Google Play right from your center display. OnStar Tech Today at OnStar.ca and discover how to take your summer to the next level. OnStar. Better never stops.

Summer heats up in FX's The Shards. Set in 80s, Los Angeles, the Shards follows a group of beautiful, privileged prep school students who are preyed on by The Trawler, a serial killer targeting teenagers across the city. This fever dream of youth, beauty, sex, and mystery is a must see. The Shards. Streaming August 5th on Hulu on Disney Plus. Sign up now at Disneyplus.com. Our local news. ABC 11 eyewitness news continues now. Welcome back. New tonight. Coping with loss can be challenging and everyone's experience can be different. One local brother who lost his sister and who is now dealing with grief himself has created a resource for others.

Bianca Holman shares more. Meredith Lynn Smith, 17 years old, passed away suddenly as a result of a tragic car crash on July 26th, 2012. She had aspirations to go to Princeton. She would have been the first four-year varsity cheerleader at her high school. She was an accomplished gymnast. She was just amazing. Meredith's brother, Zach Smith, was 18 years old at the time. Her life was cut short. My mom came running in my room in the middle of the night, screaming Meredith's dead over and over again. And then when I went out to the living room and saw the state troopers there, it kind of really hit and I understood what was going on and it was, I wouldn't wish it on my worst enemy. Smith describes his grieving process. It is the worst feeling in the entire world. For the first

few days you're in a fog. You don't really know what's up and down. You don't sleep. You can't eat. He realized dealing with loss as a journey. So Smith created stages. An anonymous peer-to-peer grief support On top of therapy, it basically matches people with others who have experienced the same type of loss. You kind of just want somebody to talk to, to talk you through your grief, and know that it's coming from a good place. The app, Smith-Smith's spent building on nights and weekends is already in use across the country and in Canada. Smith, honoring Meredith's memory to ensure it lives on forever. I just think that helping each other and I just want to help people and help them through their grief experience just like I wish somebody had for me. Bianca Holman, ABC 11, eyewitness news.

Hi Bianca, thank you. Now to Raleigh, where one man is hoping to break a world record. This is professional juggler Chris Fowler, also known as juggle boy. Now, today he put on a show over at Pullen Park by attempting to break the juggling record for catching the most baseball bats in one minute. Now, the current record is 121 catches in one minute. Fowler tells us he made roughly 150 catches in one minute today. However, the International Jugglers Association is the group who determines when a new record is set. All right, well, up next, the latest on that deadly attack at a Pride Festival in Germany.

What we're learning tonight about that suspect after a car rammed into a crowd of people, while investigators are now calling it a terrorist attack. And as we head out to our quick commercial, break. This is what we're looking at here in downtown Raleigh, high above the sky. A pretty cool day. 81 degrees right now is where we're sitting at. We're going to bring back meteorologist Cruz Medina for our full first alert forecast on the other side of this break. And reminder, you can find IWness News live on ABC 11, Disney Plus, and everywhere, New Street. Well, new tonight. Hey, y'all's Kelly Clarkson with Wayfair. Ever order furniture online and wonder what if, like what if it

doesn't hold up? That sofa was four days old. You should have ordered from Wayfair. With Wayfair, there's no what if. Just style you love and quality you can trust. Visit wayfair.ca. Wayfair, every style, every home. And hunt for the suspect in a deadly attack at a Germany pride event is over. Police say a driver plowed a car right through a crowd of people at a pride celebration in Berlin. At least one person is dead and more than two dozen others are seriously injured. The suspect is being identified as 21-year-old Abdul B. A police in Berlin say he was found near a garden complex. They say he allegedly ran toward officers

with a stabbing police open fire, killing that suspect. Officials are now calling it an Islamist terror attack. Happening now, more than 200,000 people are fleeing massive wildfires in Spain and France. About half of those evacuations are along the Atlantic coast in southwestern France. Authorities say the wildfires there are burning so intensely that they are generating their own weather system. French President Emmanuel Macron is requesting firefighting help from other European countries. and now Spain has called his first ever national emergency because of the fires threatening to build up outside of Madrid. Meanwhile in Raleigh, thousands of cosplay lovers celebrating another year of Galaxy Khan.

The four-day event wrapped up today over at the Raleigh Convention Center. More than 50,000 people made their way to the triangle for a weekend full of celebrity meet and greets, panel discussions, games, music, and more entertainment. All right, so a lot of fun. Oh, look at that he had there on his head. Look, I'm just really kind of interested to see what this next week will go by August 1st is what at the end of this week. And that means the countdown for when kids have to go back to school. So summer is quickly ending. It sure is, but the summer tipters have returned or will return into the start of the week.

Tipters will be right around 90 degrees starting the week. We'll talk more about that in just a moment. For tonight, it obviously hasn't been a super hot day. We only got up to 84 at RDU. But through the overnight hours, midnight to about 5 a.m. That's when we have a chance of some storms to drop in from the north. These could contain some gusty winds, frequent lightning, but they should clear by morning. Then we're in that seasonable stretch.

Highs tomorrow around 90 degrees. Several other days throughout this week will also be within a degree or two of 90 degrees. But we're watching for a strong storm potential on Tuesday. That'll be during the afternoon and evening. Damaging winds will be the primary threat for any storms that come our way. Speaking of the storms, they're developing in central Virginia right now. So you have to look way to our north. you'd see a few little cells starting to pop up.

Our winds in the upper levels of the atmosphere right now are out of the northwest. So essentially once that complex of storms gets going, it's going to be brought down by those northwesternly winds right into our area. So Central North Carolina as we go right around midnight and hours forward. Your evening out will feature partly to mostly cloudy skies temperatures in the low 80s to upper 70s for several hours. You can see that rain chance starts to peak the later we get into the night and should clear out by tomorrow. let me show you what this looks like here on first alert predictor the rest of this evening is dry until that cluster of storms comes in now once it gets here it's going to be moving pretty fast that's what we have at least a slight chance of seeing some gusty winds with this around midnight 1 a.m. could

be pretty noisy especially in our northern counties this complex should be dying out as it drops to the south we should see drier conditions by 7 a.m. highs tomorrow once again near 90 degrees and nothing more than a stray shower or storm out there. That should clear by evening. Tipters will also drop in the evening hours tomorrow. So around 4 p.m. is when we should reach our highs. In the triangle and the sandhills, those will be the warmest spots. The rain chance tomorrow is significantly less compared to what we will see on Tuesday.

Tuesday's rain chances being brought on by this cold front that's moving in. This could trigger multiple clusters of storms. Some of those will be coming out of the Midwest. Some of them will be to our north in the mid-Atlantic. So we could get two separate batches. that kind of collide over our area. That's what we'll be watching out for, but by the time we get into Wednesday,

we're back to dry conditions as high pressure starts to work back in. So here is the timeline of Tuesday storms. The morning is dry. Mind you, this is pretty far out. So the timing of this could change. By the time we get into midday, a few showers or storms. Here comes the cold front itself.

So a few clusters of storms that we're watching there. Damaging winds possible as that drops to the south, and that should clear by Tuesday night. So the storm prediction center has this outlook. Level two out of five for now. We'll keep you updated on the timing and any adjustments made and the impacts that we're expecting here. But again, Tuesday, a first solar day for that risk of severe storms. Then after that, it's pretty smooth sailing.

So we're in a typical summer-like pattern with dry weather highs within a degree or two of 90 Wednesday. And as we go into the end of the week as well, you can see as we go into next weekend, though, rain will return to the forecast. We will see high temperatures drop into the 80s. and we're watching for a chance of spotty storms as we go into Saturday. Sunday looks like the better chance of rain for next weekend. All right, well, Sunday it is, and we're keeping our eyes on Tuesday as well. A lot of plans that folks have this week.

Absolutely. All right, thanks for us. You got it. All right, and there's still time to give to our Stop Summer Hunger campaign. Your donation can help families facing food insecurity across our area. Every dollar donated will be matched up to $100,000. We are getting closer to our goal of funding $7 million. Mills. You can donate right now through this Friday. That's July the 31st and we put everything

you need to know over on our website at ABC11.com. All right, so we're going to bring in the hardest working sports journalists here in the triangle, our very own Trayvon Miles. I know that you've been busy there in the newsroom, Trey, cooking up what's coming up next in sports. Yeah, DeWan, you know, Sunday is usually a rest and chill day for everybody, but not the Carolina Panthers. Another crazy competitive day in Charlotte at camp. We'll go over that and much more. when we come back to sports. Here's tonight's primetime preview from ABC on the red carpet. It's an hour of laughs with Alfonso Ribero on America's Funniest Home Videos.

Then at 8-7 Central, it's true lies. You can go? Hmm. Oh. Harry? Harry? You do not have time to tango, buddy. The action comedy was directed by James Cameron and stars Arnold Schwarzenegger

leading a double life as a counter-terrorism operative, While trying to manage his home life with his wife, played by Jamie Lee Curtis. Tia Carrera and Tom Arnold also star. Hey, Harry, do you realize that it has in fact been 10 years since you've been behind the wheel one of these things? If I break it, stick and take it out of my pain. That's followed by your late local news. Be sure to follow on the red carpet for all your entertainment news.