Tracking the Tropics: Irene Weakens to Cat. 2, Still on Track for East Coast Impact

Hurricane Irene weakened slightly overnight and through the first half of Friday as of 2PM EST Friday. Irene continues to churn to the North eyeing the North Carolina coast. Watches and warnings are posted for parts of the US East coast. See below for the latest!

Here's the latest information on Hurricane Irene as of 2PM EST Friday:

Hurricane Irene: 2PM EST Update

Top Winds: 100 mph

Minimum Central Pressure: 951mb

Moving North @ 14 mph

Located: ~300mi SSW Cape Hatteras, North Carolina

While it would have made sense for Irene to strengthen overnight, that is not what happened. Irene lost a little strength, but remains a potent category two storm on the Saffir-Simpson Scale. Irene is expected to hit Cape Hatteras, North Carolina Saturday morning and then begin to affect the mid-Atlantic states including the New York tri-state area late Saturday into Sunday.

Current watches and warnings include:

A Hurricane Warning for much of the North Carolina coast Northward through Sandy Hook, New Jersey.

A Hurricane Watch for North of Sandy Hook, New Jersey through the mouth of the Merrimack River, Massachusetts. This includes New York City, Long Island, Block Island, Boston, Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket.

A Tropical Storm Warning is in effect for North of Edisto Beach, South Carolina to Little River Inlet.

Hurricane force winds stretch outward for 90 miles, but Tropical Storm force winds extend about 290 miles.

Click here to read how the National Weather Service suggests you to get prepared for a natural disaster such as Hurricane Irene. Be sure to have a plan of action just in case!

You can see Hurricane Irene's current projected path below. Next update at 5PM EST.

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