Hurricane Irene

Hurricane Irene is becoming a big threat for the eastern U.S. Specifically the Mid-Atlantic area. As of 8:00est, She has winds up to 100mph and a millibar level of 978. This is a category 2 hurricane and the National Hurricane Center has Irene becoming a Cat-3 hurricane, with winds above 110mph, by the end of today. The storm currently is in just north of the Dominican Republic and is expected to take a northward turn as it nears Florida. The forecasts show Irene making a landfall somewhere along the coast between Georgia and North Carolina. Foot's Forecast is in general agreement that it will be along or near the Outer Banks of North Carolina, from there it will skirt along the coast and give direct impact to the Mid-Atlantic states. As to the strength of Irene when it reaches to coast, the thought is that there is nothing in the atmosphere prohibiting this hurricane from becoming a Category 4 storm with winds of 131+ mph. This means that the storm could give the Mid-Atlantic states strong tropical storm force winds or even Category 1 force winds by Sunday pushing into the day Monday. This is a very dangerous situation and needs to be monitored closely. MWC and Foot's Forecast is monitoring the situation and will continue to give updates.

Find information on Irene with these links:

National Hurricane Center

NHC Irene page

Foot's Forecast

FF: Tropical Zone (Facebook)