Hurricane Irene lashing NC

Irene approaching the Carolina coast tonight. This Environment Canada radar image gives you a good idea of the distance between Montreal, Quebec and the storm center.

Hurricane Warnings are in effect from North Carolina along the coast north and east to the Maine border. Irene tonight is a potent category 2 storm with 100mph winds. Large swirling rain bands have begun to affect the Carolina coast. In the last hour a wind gust to 62 mph was reported at Wrightsville Beach. Winds and seas will increase along the coast tonight, as a surge of 6-10 feet is expected. The storm is rather large and slow moving with hurricane conditions expected to last 10 to 12 hours along the Carolina coast. Tornadoes are also possible in the stronger squalls tonight which is quite common in a land falling Hurricane.

Locally a flash flood watch is now in effect for all of Vermont and northern New York. A tropical storm watch is in effect for the southern tier of New York, the Hudson Valley and New Hampshire. Rainfall of 1-3 inches is possible from the St. Lawrence Valley east to Lake Champlain with 3-7 inches in Vermont. Flash flooding is expected in Vermont. High wind watches are also in effect. Forecasters at the National Weather Service in Burlington are expecting winds in excess of 35 mph with gusts as high as 60 mph in the Champlain Valley and across the spine of the Adirondacks and Green Mountains. In southern Quebec and more specifically Montreal, heavy rain will begin Sunday and continue much of the day and into the evening. Amounts will likely be in excess of 25mm here as we remain just on the western edge of the rain shield and much more south and east of the city. Winds will increase late Saturday night from the northeast and gust 30-50km/h overnight and stronger on Sunday.