Hurricane Irene Makes Landfall Near Cape Lookout, NC

The center of Hurricane Irene made landfall around 7:30am this morning near Cape Lookout, NC. As of the 8am advisory, Irene was still packing winds of 85 mph, with higher gusts, as its bands of heavy rain spiraled across the North Carolina coast. Irene is expected to maintain Category 1 strength as it moves toward the Delmarva Peninsula, up towards NYC & Long Island, and up into the New England States by late Sunday. The Storm Surge across North Carolina is expected to be between 5' to 9'; 4' to 8' from Virginia to New England, with Hurricane force winds extending outward up to 90 miles from the center of circulation. Rainfall amounts are expected to reach between 6" and 10", with some isolated amounts of 15" when all is said and done.

As Irene moves up the Eastern seaboard, we will see some drier air sweep down the Florida peninsula on the backside of Irene, leading to a drier than average weather pattern for Saturday. A stray shower is possible throughout the afternoon hours, with highs in the low to mid 90s. A west wind off the Gulf of Mexico will continue to drive in the humidity, which will keep our heat index values near 105° and overnight lows in the upper 70s to low 80s.