Irene Predicted For Late Saturday

5:00 AM Wednesday

Dangerous Hurricane Irene continues to move through the Bahamas early this morning. The projections have now inched eastward and as of now, Irene is expected to pass just off the coast late Saturday. That's still 3 days off and the the forecast will likely change although the computer models should start to come together as we get within three days out and where Irene will actually go as it passes by the Eastern Shore should begin to clarify as we move through the next 24 hours or so.

Right now, the computer models have the center of Irene passing just East of us late Saturday or early Sunday and hitting New England full force late Sunday or early Monday. Please be aware that the Weather Channel and other major networks will focus a lot of their time on the effects the storm will have in places like New York and Boston because of the large population in those areas.

As of 5:00 this morning Irene has intensified and winds around the center are 110 mph and the pressure is at 962mb.

It will depend entirely on how far offshore Irene passes as to how it affects us. If it moves within 100 miles of us, expect a lot of rain, wind, power outages and tidal flooding especially on the bayside of the Shore as winds will shift hard to the west as the storm passes by and will result in tidal flooding in the usual places along our bayside creeks. If Irene passes further off the coast the effects here will be minimal.

Hurricanes Donna in 1961 and Floyd in 1999 are two benchmark hurricanes of comparable size and strength that passed East of here but caused considerable damage.

For more information go to Hurricane Preparedness Guide: http://www.shoredailynews.com/hurricane.html

Source; shoredailynews.com