7:30 AM | Threat continues here for weekend heavy rain and strong winds from Irene
Paul Dorian
6-Day Forecast
Today
Fabulous late-summer weather continues with mostly sunny skies, pleasant conditions, highs near 80
Tonight
Mostly clear, comfortable, low 60’s
Wednesday
Mostly sunny, still pleasant, near 80
Thursday
Partly sunny, more humid, very warm, chance for a shower or thunderstorm and there could be some brief heavy rain involved, mid-to-upper 80’s
Friday
Partly sunny, warm, low 80’s
Saturday
Increasing clouds, humid, chance for showers and thunderstorms late in the day or at night depending on the track of Irene, potential exists for substantial rainfall and strong winds, low 80’s
Sunday
Mostly cloudy, humid with the threat for more showers and thunderstorms, potential exists for substantial rain amounts and strong winds, low 80’s
Discussion
Great late-summer weather continues through tomorrow, but the main focus of attention continues to be on Hurricane Irene. Irene is now just north of the island of Hispaniola and it has reached category 2 status with 100 mph winds. Irene is now headed towards the Bahamas and will likely strengthen into a major hurricane within 24 hours or so – possibly even reaching category 4 status. Irene seems destined to then head towards the Carolina coastline (South or North) by Saturday morning and then it could turn right up the east coast giving us the potential here in the Mid-Atlantic for heavy rain and strong winds. This potential track is somewhat similar to the track that Hurricane Floyd followed during September 1999 and that storm dumped massive amounts of rainfall throughout much of the Mid-Atlantic region. Flooding is a growing concern here from this storm since grounds are already very saturated from recent heavy rains. For example, Central Park has received nearly a foot of rain this month and parts of New Jersey had over a foot of rain just over a week ago. Stay tuned on this developing weather story as we progress through the week.
Video
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LwrBaM2EcKg