Hurricane Irene Begins to Impact Area

HURRICANE IRENE IMPACTS DC AREA

Main impacts to be heavy rain and gusty winds

The effects of Hurricane Irene are beginning to be felt in southern and eastern portions of the area. In fact, southern Maryland is already experiencing moderate to at times heavy rainfall. This will continue to overspread the area. One of the big questions is how far west the shield of rain makes it. The best guess at this point is that the worst impacts will be east of the Blue Ridge Mountains. Even then, impacts should be moderate over most of the area. More significant effects may be felt in lower Maryland in areas such as St. Mary's County. They are under a Hurricane Warning. Gusts to 75mph are possible along the water in spots. 

Winds should top out around 50mph (gusts) in DC proper. However, these gusts may still be enough to knock down trees and power lines given the heavy rainfall that is also expected. There is also a Flood Watch in effect for the potential of up to 4 inches of rain in parts of the area (locally higher amounts are also possible). 

The worst conditions will be felt from late this afternoon into tonight. It is possible that Sunday late morning and afternoon may begin to clear out significantly across the area. The exception may be in extreme northeastern parts of the area. Stay tuned for the latest details and updates. Currently, the 9:00am update is broadcasting on our Livestream channel. You may view that video above.

Hurricane and Tropical Storm Watches Posted

HURRICANE IRENE THREATENS E. COAST

The National Weather Service has posted a Hurricane Watch for a large chunk of the eastern seaboard. At the same time, a Tropical Storm Watch has been posted for the Chesapeake Bay and Tidal Potomac River. This means that hurricane/tropical storm conditions are possible. Continues reading for detailed information. 

A MANDATORY evacuation of Ocean City, MD has been ordered. This evacuation order will go into effect at midnight tonight and all residents are expected to evacuate by 5:00pm tomorrow evening. This includes ALL visitors/tourists. The city will close to any unauthorized personnel tomorrow at 5:00pm. 

Sandbags are being made available in certain jurisdictions along the Tidal Potomac. Also, evacuations are in place in many locations from the Outer Banks of North Carolina into New Jersey. Stay tuned for the latest updates and details. 

The Capital Region Pulse Livestream

Watch live streaming video from capitalregionpulse at livestream.com

Hurricane Irene Threatens East Coast

Hurricane Irene churned off of the southeast coast of the United States Thursday morning. Irene is expected to continue in a northwesterly direction and then change to a northerly direction with time. There is some uncertainty as to where the storm will ultimately end up. However, there has been some shift west with the computer model tracks. Also, Ocean City, MD has started phase one of their emergency plan. They are evacuating international workforce students and asking visitors to postpone trips.

For the DC area, it is unclear how much Irene will impact the area. Please stay tuned to this website AND our Livestream for the most up to date information. We will continue to update our readers with time. Please note that we expect to schedule some live broadcasts using our Livestream channel within the next day or two.