Position: 37.3N 75.4W [10PM CDT 0300 UTC].
Movement: North-Northeast [020°] near 16 mph [26 kph].
Maximum sustained winds: 80 mph [130 kph].
Wind Gusts: 100 mph [160 kph].
Tropical Storm Wind Radius: 240 miles [390 km].
Hurricane Wind Radius: 125 miles [205 km].
Minimum central pressure: 954 mb ↑.

Currently about 70 miles [115 km] South-Southwest of Ocean City, Maryland and 255 miles [415 km] South-Southwest of New York City.

The eye made landfall near Cape Lookout, NC at 6:30AM CDT.

The central pressure for Irene is mid-range for a Category 3 hurricane. The wind speed reflects the size of the storm, the air mass that the storm is moving. This storm, with its consistent direction and slow speed is building a massive ‘wake’ or storm surge. That is what is going to do the damage. It was Katrina’s storm surge that wiped Waveland, Mississippi off the map, not the wind.

Update: The pressure has finally started to go up, which is better news. So far there are 9 deaths associated with the storm and over a million people without power.

A Hurricane Warning is in effect for the coast from Surf City, North Carolina north to Sagamore Beach, Massachusetts.

A Tropical Storm Warning is in effect for the coast from Chesapeake Bay from Drum Point northward and the tidal Potomac; north of Sagamore Beach, MA to Eastport, Maine; from the US border northeastward to Fort Lawrence; and the South Coast of Nova Scotia from Fort Lawrence to Porters Lake.

Here’s the link for NOAA’s latest satellite images.

[For the latest information click on the storm symbol, or go to the CATEGORIES drop-down box below the CALENDAR and select “Hurricanes” for all of the posts related to storms on this site.]