Hurricane Irene Continues to Creep Up the Coast

UPDATED: 5:50 p.m. The center of Hurricane Irene is now approximately 255 miles away from our area as she continues to crawl up the eastern seaboard bringing heavy rain, strong wind, and flooding conditions to millions of people along the way.

Currently, there are more than 630,000 people without electricity due to this storm system and that number is expected to continue to rise as the storm travels past the densely populated northeast region.

August has already provided Philadelphia with a record breaking 13.61 inches of rain. This number may nearly double by the time Hurricane Irene moves through our region. With the ground already very saturated and factoring in the potential for another 8-11 inches of rai,n we are going to see many inundated with water.

The saturated ground will also weaken the root system of trees across the city. As the strong and persistent winds pound our area we will see many downed trees and power lines.

The outer bands of the hurricane have been passing through our area throughout the afternoon and we will continue to see these periodic bursts of heavier rain until the bulk of the moisture moves in from the south.

This light rain will persist throughout our area until a heavier band of moisture travels northward and into our region around 7 p.m. This will be a more persistent round of heavier rain that will last for several hours, through approximately 9:30 p.m.

There is the window for one more period of lighter rain between 10 p.m. and 10:45 p.m. before the consistently heavy rain settles into our region. This heavy rain will continue throughout the night and into the morning hours before lightening up around noon as the system pulls away.  

Mixed in with this heavier batch of rain may bring along the risk of a thunderstorm or possibly even a weak tornado. Due to the natural spin of tropical systems it is common for a weak and short-lived tornado to sprout up in some of the heaviest bands of rain.

The National Weather Service has continued the Hurricane Warning, Flood Watch, and River Flood Warning for Philadelphia. The maximum sustained winds are expected to be around 45 to 65 mph with gusts up to 80 mph

The Schuylkill River was at 6.5 feet as of 2 p.m. this afternoon. Flood Stage occurs when the river reaches 11.0 feet, yet the river is expected to rise to at least 13.0 feet by late Monday morning.

This situation will be monitored closely throughout the duration of the hurricane. Updates will be provided throughout the entire event to highlight where the severe tropical rain bands and heavy winds are lining up.