8:30 AM | Hurricane Irene on a collision course with the New York City metropolitan region with torrential rains and destructive winds this weekend

6-Day Forecast

Today

Mostly cloudy, warm and more humid with showers and thunderstorms possible from mid-morning on, some of the storms will be severe with strong winds, brief downpours and possible hail, highs in the mid-to-upper 80’s

Tonight

Evening showers and thunderstorms still possible and some of the storms will be strong, lows in the upper 60’s

Friday

Partly sunny, warm, low-to-mid 80’s; chance for showers and thunderstorms late at night

Saturday

Showers and thunderstorms overspreading the region and evolving in the overnight hours into hurricane conditions with torrential rainfall and destructive winds, low 80’s for highs and mid 60’s for lows overnight

Sunday

Hurricane conditions with torrential rains and devastating winds, mid 70’s

Monday

Partly sunny, breezy, upper 70’s

Tuesday

Partly sunny, warm, highs in the low 80’s

Discussion

Despite the threat for severe thunderstorms later today and early tonight, the main story is the approach of dangerous Hurricane Irene. Irene continues to be a major threat to the Mid-Atlantic region for this weekend with numerous power outages and flooding problems likely. Irene appears to be headed on a collision course for the New York City metropolitan region and will likely create hurricane conditions Saturday night and Sunday to include torrential rains and destructive winds. Irene is headed for the Outer Banks region of North Carolina by late Saturday as a major hurricane (ie category 3 or higher). It should then move along the east coast to a position near New York City by Sunday night – likely as a category 1 hurricane. By early Monday, Irene will likely be moving towards western Massachusetts as a tropical storm. This storm has several ominous features that make it a very dangerous storm for the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast; especially, along the coast from North Carolina to Maine. First, it is a powerful hurricane - possibly reaching category 4 before making landfall on Saturday. Second, it is a larger-than-normal hurricane which means it will contain heavy rain and strong winds over a very large area. Third, and perhaps most important for New York and New England, it appears that this system will only slowly weaken as it rides up the east coast thanks in part to warm sea surface temperatures up the coast. All of this suggests an extreme weather event is in the offing near and along the coast from North Carolina to Maine and torrential rain and devastating winds will occur inland as well back to near the I-95 corridor. All of the major cities from DC to Boston will be impacted severely by Irene this weekend with the brunt of the storm here Saturday night and Sunday including possible wind gusts to 90 mph. Stay tuned for updates on this serious weather event for the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast.

Video

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uDJBwFUlbjg