Tracking the Tropics: Category 3 Irene Prompts East Coast Watches & Warnings

As of 8PM EST Thursday, Hurricane Irene continued to churn to the North-Northwestward at Category 3 strength. Watches and warnings are already being posted for parts of the US East coast. See below for the latest!

Here's the latest information on Hurricane Irene as of 8PM EST Thursday evening:

Hurricane Irene: 8PM EST Update

Top Winds: 115 mph

Minimum Central Pressure: 946mb

Moving NNW @ 14 mph

Located: ~530mi SSW Cape Hatteras, North Carolina

Conditions are prime for Irene to strengthen somewhat tonight. A turn to the Northward is expected sometime tomorrow. Irene is expected to hit Cape Hatteras, North Carolina Saturday afternoon and then begin to affect the New York tri-state area late Saturday into Sunday.

 

Current watches and warnings include:

A Hurricane Warning for the Northwestern Bahamas and much of the North Carolina coast.

A Hurricane Watch for the Virginia/North Carolina border North through Sandy Hook, New Jersey.

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

A Tropical Storm Watch for Chesapeake Bay from Smith Point Northward.
Hurricane force winds stretch outward for 80 miles, but Tropical Storm Force winds extend about 290 miles.

Tracking the Tropics: Hurricane Irene Remains at Cat. 3 Strength, Turns North-Northwest

As of 11AM EST Thursday, Hurricane Irene remains a Category 3 storm on the Saffir-Simpson Scale. Irene continues to batter the Northwest Bahamas today and then eyes the East coast of the United States. The East coast of Florida is experiencing some effects from Irene right now.

Here's the latest on Hurricane Irene as of 11AM EST Thursday morning:

Hurricane Irene: 11AM EST Update

Top Winds: 115 mph

Minimum Central Pressure: 951mb

Moving NNW @ 13 mph

Location: Currently Approaching Abaco Island

There is still the possibility for Irene to strengthen today and tonight. 

Current watches and warnings include:

A Hurricane Warning for the Central and Northwestern Bahamas.

A Hurricane Watch for the North Carolina coast.

A Tropical Storm Watch for the South Carolina coast North of Edisto Beach.

The mid-Atlantic states may very well see a Hurricane Watch posted later today.

Hurricane force winds stretch outward for 70 miles, but Tropical Storm Force winds extend to around 290 miles from the storm's center. 

Portions of South Carolina and North Carolina will continue to see increased surf and dangerous rip currents from Irene as the storm nears. The center of Irene is forecast to now be over Cape Hatteras, North Carolina by midday Saturday.

Tracking the Tropics: Hurricane Irene Dips to Cat. 1, But Will Restrengthen

Hurricane Irene, once a category two hurricane, has temporarily weakened slightly to a category one storm on the Saffir-Simpson scale. There is concern for the East coast of the United States to be impacted significantly by Irene later this week and well into the upcoming weekend. 

Here's the latest on Hurricane Irene as of 5PM EST this evening:

Hurricane Irene: 5PM EST Update

Top Winds: 90 mph

Minimum Central Pressure: 976mb

Moving WNW @ 9 mph

Located ~50 mi SSW Grand Turk Island

There was some SSW wind shear which allowed Irene to weaken just a bit today. That being said, the downgrade to a Category 1 Hurricane this evening is no surprise. However, Irene is headed towards prime waters for strengthening. So, expect Irene to rapidly begin to restrengthen over the next 48 hours. 

Current watches and warnings include:

A Hurricane Warning for Turks and Caicos Islands and the Southeastern, Central and Northwestern Bahamas.

A Tropical Storm Warning in effect for the North Coast of Haiti.

Hurricane force winds only stretch outward for 40 miles, but Tropical Storm Force winds extend to around 205 miles from the storm's center. 

Irene is forecast to become a Category 3 storm as early as Thursday morning. Portions of South Carolina and North Carolina will start to see increased surf and dangerous rip currents pick up over the next couple of days. The center of Irene is forecast to be just offshore the North Carolina coast by Saturday afternoon.

Tornado, Microburst Confirmed by National Weather Service in New York

The National Weather Service completed its initial survey of damage left by yesterday's severe storms in portions of upstate New York and there is confirmation of a tornado and a microburst, or a small, but very strong downdraft of air.

Three EF-1 tornado touched down in Goshen in Orange county. An EF-1 tornado produces winds of speeds between 86 and 110 miles per hour.

The microburst, which was just shy of one half mile wide packing top winds of 80 miles per hour, was confirmed in Ossining in Westchester county.

These storms took down trees and power lines, blew out glass windows and even damaged some homes in the affected upstate New York areas.

Friday's threat of strong to severe thunderstorms for parts of the mid-Atlantic materialized in a hurry during the early evening hours. A few thunderstorm cells were deemed to be "severe" by the National Weather Service and storm warnings were issued for portions of upstate New York, New Jersey, New York City and even Nassau and Western Suffolk counties on Long Island.