Hurricane Irene Forecast to Hammer East Coast

This morning's Hurricane Irene update brings the track of the storm closer to the east coast.

Previous forecasts suggested Irene might be farther off the coast...now the storm is expected to make landfall on the on the islands off N. Carolina. It is expected to be a cat. 3. The high storm surge could forever change the landscape of the very popular and populated shorelines.

Irene is expected to hug the coast and hit New England as a cat. 1 or 2 on Sunday. Long Island could see a direct hit with storm surge of 8 to 10 feet above sea level. Roughly 3 million people live on Long Island. Evacuations may already be underway. I hope that is the case.

Check out this live web camera off North Carolina. www.surfchex.com

Many folks were hitting the beach early today to catch the bigger waves as Hurricane Irene already was kicking up the surf.

WEather Geek Alert! Heat Burst Tuesday

This is picture of trees knocked down in Brayton, IA yesterday. Michael Johnson sent it to our Photolink file.

The downed trees are not that unusual for a severe thunderstorm wind gust...but this time the damage was a result of a Heat Burst.

Basically a heat burst occurs when there is a big drop in the dew point as temperatures rise and gusty wind are created. It is kind of like a down burst. The phenomenon comes as fast moving storms suddenly end.

From the Des Moines NWS....

"A heat burst is characterized by a sudden rise in temperature, a drop in humidity, and strong winds that can approach or exceed severe levels. They are associated with high based decaying thunderstorms with a substantial dry layer beneath the base of the storm. As rain from the thunderstorm falls into the underlying dry air, it cools the air immediately around it, which becomes denser than the surrounding air and begins to sink. As this air sinks, it drys and compresses adiabatically, which results in the hot and dry readings recorded with heat bursts."

The temperature in Atlantic hit 102 yesterday when the hot air hit the base with the gusty heat burst wind.

Here are the other damage reports from the event.

0650 PM NON-TSTM WND DMG BRIDGEWATER 41.25N 94.67W
08/23/2011 ADAIR IA LAW ENFORCEMENT

TREE REPORTED DOWN ON A POWER LINE ON NORTH MAIN. DAMAGE POSSIBLY FROM A HEAT BURST.

0705 PM NON-TSTM WND DMG 1 S BRAYTON 41.53N 94.93W
08/23/2011 AUDUBON IA LAW ENFORCEMENT

TREE REPORTED DOWN ON A POWER LINE. TRAINED SPOTTER ALSO REPORTED LIMBS DOWN IN HIS YARD.
SPOTTER ESTIMATED WINDS OF AROUND 40 MPH AND OBSERVED A TEMPERATURE INCREASE FROM
76 TO 96 DEGREES IN A FEW MINUTES ALONG WITH A SHARP DROP IN THE HUMIDITY.
THIS EVENT WAS LIKELY A HEAT BURST.

0744 PM NON-TSTM WND GST FONTANELLE 41.29N 94.56W
08/23/2011 M60 MPH ADAIR IA MESONET

HOT Today...Hurricane Irene Update

HOT...HOT...HOT

Orient Macksburg Schools have decided to let their students out early today because the heat and humidity will make it feel like 100+ this afternoon. (must not have AC in the classrooms.)

Coaches need to be watchful of their players during outside practice today. Make sure your players have plenty of water.


Here is the morning update on Hurricane Irene.

The hurricane is a cat. 2 with winds at 101 mph. The track is trending a little more the east...keeping it a bit farther off the Florida coast, but you can see the line is set up for landfall on the Carolina Coast overnight Saturday to Sunday morning.

The forecast is for Irene to be a major hurricane...cat. 4 along the coast of Florida. The Bahamas will be slammed along the way.

If the forecast holds for cat. 3 as it hits the Atlantic coast...we are talking about major destruction.

The long term forecast hints at Irene hitting New England. Over 75 million people could be affected by this storm. It has the potential to be another very costly event in a year of extreme weather.

Severe WX Early This Morning...North Iowa

There is a severe thunderstorm watch for much of northern Iowa until 8 am today.

Several severe thunderstorm warnings have been issued for north-central counties.

These storms are moving to the east and will not be severe for the city of Des Moines.

It will be hot later today with highs in the lower 90s and heat index temperatures between 100 to 105.

Slight Risk Severe Weather North Tonight

There is a slight risk for severe weather tonight into tomorrow morning for NW Iowa. The better chance for big storms is centered over Minnesota.

There is a weak front or low pressure trough that is moving through the Dakota's to Minnesota.

This could fire up some strong storms with larger hail and damaging wind.

Our chance for rain in the metro would not come until Today in Iowa Wednesday.

Hurricane Irene Slows Our Weather Pattern

Hurricane Irene is expected to strengthen and move off the coast of Florida to the Carolinas by Wednesday.

Irene is now forecast to be a Cat. 3 hurricane by Wednesday. That would keep sustained winds over 115 mph. The track puts land-fall at Hilton Head Island.

The hurricane will act like a brick wall for all weather moving to the east. That means our weather pattern will stay very much the same through the end of the week.

It will be hot and humid the next few days with only slight chances for showers and thunderstorms tonight and tomorrow. The best shot at the rain will be in Northeastern Iowa tomorrow.