Community Corner

Hurricane Irene: Latest Track Targets New Jersey Coastline

As of 11 a.m. Friday (Aug. 26), the powerful hurricane is on a collision course with Ocean City.

Hurricane Irene was about 610 miles south of Ocean City at 11 a.m. Friday and barreling north on a path that will bring it directly over the island or a short distance out to sea.

The center of the storm is expected to reach Ocean City about 8 a.m. Sunday, Aug. 28, at the same time an exceptionally high new-moon tide occurs.

A storm surge generated by hurricane winds, the high tide and six to 12 inches of rain are expected to combine to create severe and damaging flooding along the entire New Jersey shoreline.

Find out what's happening in Ocean Citywith free, real-time updates from Patch.

A mandatory evacuation continues on Friday with all residents and visitors expected to be off the island by this evening.

Maximum sustained winds for Irene have decreased to 105 mph, and the storm is expected to strike the North Carolina coast on Saturday morning as a Category 2 (96 to 110 mph winds) storm.

Find out what's happening in Ocean Citywith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Hurricane-force winds extend 90 miles from the center of the massive storm on Friday afternoon, and tropical-storm winds reach 290 miles.

The National Weather Service predicts storm surge will raise water levels by as much as 3 to 6 feet above ground level on the Jersey Shore while "large, destructive and life-threatening waves" batter the beaches.

Irene is expected to produce 6 to 12 inches of rain with isolated places seeing as much as 15 inches of rain, according to forecasters.

Sustained tropical-force winds are expected to begin Saturday afternoon and continue through Sunday at 50 to 70 mph with gusts up to 90 mph.

"Irene could be a 'once-in-50-year' hurricane for the Northeast from the standpoint of power outages caused by downed trees alone," Accuweather senior meteorologist Kristine Pydynowski said in a Friday update.

Near-record August rainfall in many locations is making the ground soft and making trees more likely to fall. There's a small chance of scattered showers and thunderstorms unrelated to the hurricane on Friday evening.

See an interactive tracking map:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/08/26/storm-tracker-hurricane-irene-2011_n_938056.html?1314377883


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