Hurricane Irene made landfall this morning near Cape Lookout, NC, and continues to move over all the little bays and inlets along the eastern North Carolina coast. The center of the storm is just east of Lowland, NC over the Pamlico Sound. Irene will continue to slowly make its way north-northeastward towards Virginia Beach/Norfolk, the Delmarva Peninsula, New Jersey, and beyond towards New England.
Here's the current satellite:
Here's the bulk of Irene on radar. Click to enlarge in new window.
Here's a zoomed-in radar view of Irene's center, showing the "eye" over Lowland NC nearing the Pamlico Sound. The strongest winds with the hurricane should (I emphasize should) be in the stronger band of storms on the northwestern part of the eye. Click to enlarge in new window.
Here's the northern half of Irene, showing all the outer bands. It's a massive storm. Click to enlarge in new window.
Conditions will rapidly begin to deteriorate (meaning the windy rain will start to pick up) across the mid-Atlantic as the day continues. If you have anything else you need to do, get it done within the next few hours, then get home and hunker down. The intensity of this storm isn't what it will be known for -- it'll be its duration, rain and surge.
Here's the current track. Click to enlarge in new window.
Here are the wind fields and the watches/warnings. Click to enlarge in new window.
A Tropical Storm Warning is in effect for:
- The entirety of the states of Maine, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Connecticut and Rhode Island.
- Southern Vermont
- Eastern New York
- Western New Jersey
- Eastern Pennsylvania
- Eastern Maryland
- Washington DC
- Eastern Virginia
- Parts of Eastern North Carolina
A Hurricane Warning is in effect for the following areas:
- Eastern North Carolina
- Parts of eastern Virginia
- The Delmarva Peninsula
- Eastern New Jersey
- Long Island NY, including NYC
- Southern Connecticut & Rhode Island
- Cape Cod in Massachusetts
A tornado watch is in effect until 800PM EDT for the counties and coastal waters highlighted in red. This includes Atlantic City, all of the Delmarva Peninsula, southern Maryland, eastern Virginia, and eastern North Carolina. As I said last night...these tornadoes will spin up very quickly, and dissipate just as fast.
Due to power failures and this area being mostly coast/water, I'm having a hard time getting weather station reports (which is why I'm doing this as a regular diary instead of a liveblog). One death has been reported in NC when a tree fell on a man standing in his driveway. Not sure of the flooding/surge in the area.
If you guys have any updates on people, places, things or conditions...put them in the comments.
millwx has a better writeup HERE.
Wee Mama is running the Hurricane Irene check-in HERE.
teacherken has information on road closures in VA/MD HERE.
Ellinoriane highlights the dangers of cutting NOAA/NWS funding HERE.
10:12 AM PT: Irene's eye has taken a 10-mile jog to the east, about to go directly over the small town of Swanquarter NC. This eastward jog is in response to new convection that formed off to the center's east. Probably doesn't have any implications for its track...this happens all the time.
Latest radar:
10:14 AM PT: All New York airports are now closed -- no flights arriving or departing. DC's airports are expected to close shortly.
10:43 AM PT:
3 people dead in NC (1+ / 0-)
DO NOT GO OUTSIDE. At least one death was caused by a falling tree branch on a man who went outside.
by GlowNZ on Sat Aug 27, 2011 at 12:41:29 PM CDT
