Hurricane Irene Update

Hurricane Irene is starting to move away from Hispaniola and appears to be strengthening. There was a pressure drop from 976 mb to 969 mb in the last intermediate advisory (3 hours). The winds are still 90 mph, but I expect that to increase soon enough. There is typically a little lag time from a pressure drop and the winds responding. I still expect Hurricane Irene to become a monster hurricane, but maybe not quite as strong as first thought. The potential is there for a lot of deepening, so it's something to watch closely for sure!

The track is a different story. I'm am constantly humbled by weather forecasting, as this is still not an easy forecast as all! The trend continues a little east. The NHC's track takes Irene across the Outer Banks of North Carolina, before smashing into the Mid Atlantic/Northeast US. This is appearing more and more likely. Also, there is still a chance Irene could go out to sea, and miss the US completely. I still plan on going to Morehead City, NC tomorrow afternoon to setup and chase this potential beast. Maybe I'm just stubborn, but I have a feeling Morehead City won't be too far off. I would attempt the Outer Banks if I thought my car would make it. We'll see? I'll try to put out one more update before I leave tomorrow. Obviously, if things do trend more east, I'll be staying home. If you live in the Mid-Atlantic/Northeast US, you really need to watch Irene very closely! This is potentially a very dangerous situation...