Community Corner

Update: Tropical Storm Watch in Effect, Irene Making Way Up Coast

The National Weather Service has issued a tropical storm watch in effect until 2:45 p.m. Friday.

Update - 8/26 - 2:00 a.m. : As of midnight, Irene was 730 miles south of D.C., 760 from Baltimore. The storm has maintained its intensity of 115 mph winds, and is expected to be strongest in this area late Saturday and into early Sunday. The NWS will make another statement around 6 a.m. Friday.

Update - 9:13 p.m. : Hurricane Irene's location was updated by the NWS just before 9 p.m. As of 8 p.m., the hurricane system was about 770 miles south of Washington D.C., and about 800 miles south of Baltimore.

The NWS will continue to monitor the storm, and said it will release more information around midnight.

Find out what's happening in Bowiewith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Original Post 6:34 p.m. : The National Weather Service issued a tropical storm watch for Prince George’s County, meaning tropical storm conditions could hit the area within the next 48 hours. 

Forecasters are now predicting that Hurricane Irene's path will hug closer to the coastline and could impact the area Saturday night. The storm could bring hurricane force wind, heavy rain and flooding to the area this weekend, according to The Weather Channel.  

Find out what's happening in Bowiewith free, real-time updates from Patch.

As of 5 p.m., Hurricane Irene was located about 850 miles south of Baltimore.

The storm is also getting larger. Hurricane-force winds now extend up to 90 miles from the center (this morning it was 70 miles), and tropical-storm-force winds extend up to 290 miles from the center (this morning it was 255 miles). 

NOAA is reporting that Irene is producing swells that will cause life-threatening surf and rip current conditions along portions of the East Coast. It did not specify which portions.

Irene is still a Category 3 storm, with maximum sustained winds of 115 mph.

Other Patch editors contributed to this report.


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here