NU Online News Service, Aug. 22, 9:53 a.m. EST
Residents from Miami to the southern coast of North Carolina are being told to begin preparations for Hurricane Irene—the first Atlantic hurricane of the season.
Currently Irene, which gained hurricane status early this morning, is pummeling Puerto Rico with as much as 12 inches of rain in the mountains and sustained winds of about 75 mph, which makes Irene a weak Category 1 hurricane.
By late Wednesday, Irene could begin affecting the southeast tip of Florida, and has the possibility of strengthening to a Category 3 hurricane (sustained winds of at least 111 mph) as it moves north, according to AccuWeather.com.
The storm poses a "significant threat" to the U.S., says Mark Mancuso, AccuWeather meteorologist.
The National Hurricane Center's (NHC) extended forecast calls for Irene to skirt Florida's east coast before making landfall near the state's border with Georgia next weekend.
AccuWeather meteorologist Dan Kottlowski says the latest computer models "suggest a higher chance of Irene tracking along or just off the coast of eastern Florida and making landfall along the Carolina coast."
As the predictions demonstrate, forecasts at this time carry a high degree of uncertainty, warn forecasters.
This afternoon and tonight, Irene is expected to approach the northern coast of the Dominican Republic as it continues to move west-northwest. Since Irene will not interact with Hispaniola as much as was previously expected, the storm will consequently strengthen more than had been expected, says the NHC.
In fact, "significant strengthening could occur," says the NHC. Once the storm gets away from the large island of Hispaniola, it "certainly has the potential to become quite strong," adds Mancuso.
After landfall, Irene's remnants could spread northward and dump heavy rain along the East Coast, according to AccuWeather.
Irene is the ninth named storm of the Atlantic hurricane season, which began June 1 and ends Nov. 30.
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