Storm Surge

Hurricane Irene is still headed toward the northeast megalopolises, a Category 1 hurricane with a major storm surge and inland flooding threat. Storm surge is a destructive element of a hurricane that is likely to happen.

An update from the local (The Cedar Island Ferry Terminal) measured sustained winds of 90 mph, gusting to 110 mph at 7:19am, and a trained spotter on Atlantic Beach measured sustained winds of 85 mph, gusting to 101 mph at 10:35 am. The Hurricane Hunters measured 80 mph winds over water at the time of landfall.
Here's Hurricane Irene picture taken by NOAA:

Click on the image to maximize

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Watch Live Doppler Radar Online

Hurricane Irene is approaching. One way to see where it will pass or hit is by using eye in the sky technology like satellite. United States has that technology.To help and fast thing's up for you, here are Live Doppler Radar you could access Online via the internet.

Houston Weather: Live Mega Doppler 13 Radar
They a several view area that could be useful to see the hurricane.
Link: abclocal.go.com/doppler?section=weather/doppler
Screenshot:

National Weather Service Doppler Radar by NOAA
Link: weather.noaa.gov/radar

National Doppler Radar by Weather.com
They have a selection of Weather Details you could check. You can pinpoint your Weather on their Interactive Map.
Link: weather.com/maps/maptype/currentweatherusnational
Screenshot:

Their online Doppler Radar is always updated, so you might want to check the whereabout of the hurricane live.

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Verizon Wireless

Verizon Wireless and Sprint Nextel Corp. (S) are taking steps including assembling disaster recovery teams, generators and supplies to cope with possible flooding and power outages, the companies said today in separate statements.

Hurricane Irene, the strongest Atlantic storm to threaten the U.S. since 2005, is forecast to pass near North Carolina this weekend and slam into New England next week. More than 65 million people, or one in five Americans, may be affected by the storm, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

“These are the moments when mobile phone service is needed most -- and disruptions put lives at risk,” Jamie Barnett, chief of the agency’s public safety and homeland bureau. Hopefully, service provider like Verizon Wireless could deliver their services and help us on the recovery if there is a  disaster.

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Current Events

The most current events happening in the United States is Hurricane Irene approaching North Carolina. The image below is provided by NOAA and made by the GOES East satellite Hurricane Irene is shown as it move over the Bahama Thursday Aug. 25, 2011.



Hurricane Irene could hit North Carolina's Outer Banks on Saturday afternoon with winds around 115 mph (185 kph) and it's predicted to go up the East Coast, dumping rain from Virginia to New York City.

Airline flights and events were canceled or postponed in advance of Hurricane Irene, a dangerous storm that is expected to bring widespread damage, power outages and flooding from North Carolina to New England.

In anticipation, Amtrak and major U.S. airlines began canceling routes and flights or putting them on a watch list. American Airlines canceled 126 flights Thursday, mostly out of Miami and the Bahamas, an airline spokesman said. Airlines are expected to cancel more flights Friday.

A monstrous Hurricane Irene tightened its aim on the Eastern Seaboard on Thursday, threatening 65 million people along a shore-hugging path from North Carolina to New England. One of the nation's top experts called it his "nightmare" scenario.

"One of my greatest nightmares was having a major hurricane go up the whole Northeast Coast," Max Mayfield, the center's retired director, told The Associated Press.

In a normal hurricane, tropical storm-force winds extend about 150 miles from the eye. Irene's winds extend nearly 250 miles.

He said the damage will probably climb into billions of dollars: "This is going to have an impact on the United States economy."

The head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency said damages could exceed most previous storms because so many people live along the East Coast and property values are high.

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Ocean City Md

Hurricane Irene Expected to Hit the Southern and U.S. This Week. While OCEAN CITY, Md. - Ocean City has activated phase three of its hurricane action plan in preparation for Irene and will evacuate the city.

Ocean City officials have ordered thousands of residents and visitors to evacuate the Maryland beachfront community, and the state's governor has declared a state of emergency as Hurricane Irene approaches.

Ocean City, Maryland, mandatory evacuations were ordered beginning at midnight, while in parts of North Carolina, including Ocracoke Island on the Outer Banks, evacuations of residents and tourists were already underway.

More than 1000 individuals have gathered in the Ocean City Convention Center to be transported to safe locations, according to Ian Patrick Hines, a spokesman for the Maryland Department of Human Resources.

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National Grid

A map on National Grid's website shows neighborhoods without power. Thousands of Johnston residents are without power this afternoon as high. National Grid handles the transmission and distribution of electricity and natural gas to customers in New York, New Hampshire, Massachusetts and Rhode Island.

National Grid says that power is out to more than 270,000 of  its 480,000 Rhode Island customers. The utility company has 6,500 people working in Rhode Island today from linemen to engineers and phone operators to handle the damage being done by Hurricane Irene.

There are also 80 private contractor crews assisting the National Grid repair operations, many coming from the Midwest.

Still, it will be days before power is fully restored in Rhode Island, according to spokesman David Graves, and "It could be into next weekend before all customers are restored,".

The total number of Rhode Island customers without power hit 277,00 at 4 p.m. Another 5,000 customers from the Pascoag Utility District are also without electricity.

Nearly 300,000 Rhode Islanders are without power tonight as National Grid workers begin to repair the "catastrophic damage" Hurricane Irene inflicted on the state's electrical system.

Restoring power to all communities will take several days, according to Tim Horan, regional president for National Grid. Some can expect to remain in the dark until the end of the week. Horan said he does not yet know which areas will remain dark the longest and the company will have a better handle on the estimate after further assessing the damage overnight.

"The damage is extensive. It's amazing the size of the poles that have fallen," Horan said. "We know it will be multiple days."

Major transmission lines are out of service, and 20 substations — about one-third of the number in the state — are offline. National Grid has 600 employees in the field working to repair the damage, but efforts are hampered by the sheer number of trees that have fallen. The problem is not concentrated to any specific pockets of Rhode Island, but is widespread.

National Grid is working first on "critical customers" — hospitals, police stations and fire stations — as well as repairing major transmission lines to get as many people back online as quickly as possible.

"We've been spared the massive flooding; we've been spared the storm surge, but we have, as you all know, extensive tree damage," Chafee said. "National Grid has been working hard to get your power back. They have given this their highest designation. They've categorized it as a ctastrophic power outage here in Rhode Island."

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Hurricane Names

An international committee of the World Meteorological Organization maintains and keep updates of Hurricane Names lists. Before, in the early 1953, it was the National Hurricane Center that came up with some lists of names for Atlantic tropical storms.

Experience shows that the use of short, distinctive given Hurricane Names in written as well as spoken communications is quicker and less subject to error than the older more cumbersome latitude-longitude identification methods. These advantages are especially important in exchanging detailed storm information between hundreds of widely scattered stations, coastal bases, and ships at sea.

Such names serve more than fodder for pitting males and females against one another. Experience has shown that short, distinctive Hurricane Names are especially important in communicating detailed storm information in an efficient way, according to the National Hurricane Center.

Here are several  Hurricane Names that is predicted on 2011 by NOAA:
Arlene
Bret
Cindy
Don
Emily
Franklin
Gert
Harvey
Irene

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Hurricane Irene Path 2011

Here are some picture taken and several possibilities about the Hurricane Irene Path that is likely to happen. The data was taken by NOAA and National Hurricane Center.

Hurricane Irene Path by NOAA
Here's Hurricane Irene picture taken by NOAA from above:

Click on the image to maximize

And this is a possible surface wind field of Hurricane Irene, predicted by NOAA:

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NYC Hurricane

From few days ago, forecasts are predicting the hurricane will affect states including South Carolina and Virginia and on all the way up to the eastern coast of Canada through Monday. New York Governor Andrew Cuomo has declared a state of emergency and declared mandatory evacuations for some parts of New York City.
Here's NYC Hurricane Irene Evacuation Map to determine if you would evacuate.

Visit the NYC Office of Emergency Management Hurricane Evacuation Zone Finder to determine what zone you live in, and follow the directions to determine if you live in a mandatory evacuation area.

Governor Cuomo has ordered the shutdown of New York City’s mass transit, the MTA, starting Saturday at noon. So, no subway or bus service, and it may be out through Monday noon, at least.

A little updates, The Red Cross Is Looking for Hurricane Volunteers in NYC
If you're not busy evacuating or wrestling singlehandedly with your window air conditioner or scoping out possible hurricane boyfriends, you may be interested to know that the Red Cross needs your help!

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Weather Boston

Hurricane Irene is coming. Hopefully not. All of the reliable forecasters, including the National Weather Service's Hurricane Center, predict today Boston and Massachusetts are smack in the center of the probable track of Hurricane Irene.
But, four days ago, A severe thunderstorm watch is in effect from Massachusetts to Delaware, the National Weather Service said. Downed trees and large hail have been reported.

All of the reliable forecasters, including the National Weather Service's Hurricane Center, predict today Boston and Massachusetts are smack in the center of the probable track of Hurricane Irene.

Globe Staff All are potential impacts in New England being projected by weather  forecasting supercomputers as Hurricane Irene whirls toward the East Coast. With the storm still three days away, computer models are offering varying simulation.

Storm tracker: Hurricane Irene headed for New York, New Jersey As Hurricane Irene gains speed, it might soon be headed for New York, The Huffington Post reports. While sources state the storm might pass directly over New York City.

Want to see an online weather radar in action?
Visit National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s website (noaa).

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Doppler Radar

Like in the movie Tornado, we can use A Doppler radar to produce velocity data about objects at a distance, also, we can use it to detect the velocity of a vehicle running (the police use it) and we can use it as a weather radar.
A Doppler Radar could gave a 12-minute tornado warning as a weather radar.

A doppler radar does this by beaming a microwave signal towards a desired target and listening for its reflection, then analyzing how the frequency of the returned signal has been altered by the object's motion.

Monday’s unusual storm which brought more than 2 inches of rain to the West End on Monday was “seen” for the first time by the region’s new weather radar system.

Installed only since spring, the new Doppler radar station near Ocean Shores in Grays Harbor County helped the National Weather Service issue a flood advisory Monday for the West End.

The domed tower is still in the testing mode, but its radar detected heavy bands of rainfall from Cape Flattery to Ocean Shores, said Jay Albrecht, National Weather Service meteorologist in Seattle.
“It’s beautiful, actually,” he said.
“It showed all the rain. We were able to see heavy precipitation in Forks.”

Until now, the Weather Service’s Doppler station on Camano Island near Everett was blinded by the Olympic Mountains, leaving an undetected “hole” on the Pacific coast.
“Forks received more than 2.6 inches of rain in just five hours,” said Jay Albrecht, National Weather Service meteorologist.

Want to see an online weather radar in action?
Visit National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's website.

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