Hurricane Irene made landfall at Cape Lookout, NC as a category 1 storm this morning at 7:47 AM. Maximum sustained winds were 85 mph with gusts to 105 mph (Cedar Island gusted to 115 mph this morning). This US landfall ended a 1,079 day drought of U.S. landfalling hurricanes–since Sept. 13, 2008! Even though the wind speeds were lower than forecast, all the same threats still remained. As I have been saying the last several days, flooding would be a major issue from Irene with 5-10 inches of rain being widespread. A look at the radar estimated rainfall shows a large portion of eastern North Carolina with >5″ of rain and some areas in excess of a foot!

Radar estimated rainfall for eastern North Carolina as of 12:45 PM, Saturday, August 27, 2011

Much of coastal North Carolina has been getting battered with heavy rain and wind for more than 12 hours. This has taken a toll on some coastal communities, especially inland bays where the storm surge has been the worst. The highest surge reported so far has been 8.5′ in North Harlow, NC. The Bogue Inlet Pier in Emerald Isle has collapsed due to a combination of the wind and extremely large waves.

Photo of the partially collapsed Bogue Inlet Pier in NC. Photo by twitter user @emeraldislenc.

Irene has caused excessive tree damage as well in North Carolina. People were without power as far inland as just northwest of Raleigh-Durham. Raleigh has only received a trace of rain, yet the winds have caused tree branches to snap, thus falling on power lines and knocking out power to thousands of people. WSJ is reporting that more than 438,000 customers are now without power in North Carolina and Virginia, and this number will only continue to rise as Irene moves right up the coast tonight into tomorrow. The outer rain bands from Irene extend more than 600 miles north of its center!

WAVY-News has confirmed two deaths from Hurricane Irene. “Second death confirmed: One person died in a vehicle crash in Pitt County, while a Nash County man died after a branch fell on him.”

There are approximately 101,000 National Guard troops along east coast available to help respond after Hurricane Irene if needed. If you come across a flooded roadway and are not sure how deep the water is, remember, “Turn around, don’t drown”. For more on the effects Irene will have on the mid-Atlantic and Northeast click here.

As of the 11 AM EDT advisory on Hurricane Irene, the minimum central pressure is 946 with maximum sustained winds of 105 mph. This makes Irene a category 2 hurricane. It is moving to the north at 14 mph and will make landfall near Cape Lookout, NC Saturday morning or afternoon. It will likely make landfall as a category 2 hurricane, possibly a category 3.

Wind shear from a frontal boundary and dry air are having a noticeable effect on Irene at the moment. In the image below, courtesy of HOOT, shows dry air (the brown color) to the west of Irene, and this is beginning to wrap around the south side of the storm. This has proceeded to make Irene a little “top heavy”, meaning a majority of the convection is on the north and northeast side of the storm.

Water vapor Image of Hurricane Irene as of 11:15 AM EDT, Friday, Aug. 26, 2011. Image courtesy HOOT.

Irene is still a very dangerous hurricane, and any residents along the coast from North Carolina to Massachusetts should evacuate if you have not done so already. Don’t let the strength of Irene fool you, she is still packing wind gusts to 130 mph, massive waves (>30 FEET), and will have devastating effects to all coastal communities in its path.

Flooding continues to be a major concern for the mid-Atlantic and Northeast. Five to ten inches of rain will be widespread with local amounts of over a foot possible, especially in the higher elevations. The combination of an already saturated ground with an additional 5-10 inches of rain, will make it that much easier for the strong winds of Irene to completely uproot trees and cause severe damage. DO NOT take this lightly, you are running out of time to prepare for this hurricane, so make any final decisions today!