Hurricane Irene Still Dangerous, Still Headed Toward NYC

Satellite image of Irene from CIMMS, University of Wisconsin

Here's the latest on Hurricane Irene. It is still a Category 1 hurricane centered about 300 miles south of the city and moving this way at about 13 mph. The first rain band from the storm reached the city early this evening. While the maximum intensity of Irene has diminished somewhat it will still be a large and dangerous hurricane when it makes landfall tomorrow.

Wind and rain are usually the media stars when it comes to hurricanes but it is the storm surge that typically causes the most damage. While the peak winds of Irene may weaken before it reaches the city the storm surge will not. Tomorrow's astronomical high tides will be unusually high and the storm surge is going to be on top of them. There is a small chance that the surge will be high enough to flow over the not very high seawall in lower Manhattan.

GOES satellite image of Irene from NASA

The area of hurricane force winds is about 85 miles across and tropical storm force winds cover an area several hundred miles in diameter. This, coupled with Irene's slow northward movement means we are in for many hours of high winds. The National Weather Service expects the winds to pick up to 25-30 mph soon and increase to 35-45 mph, with gusts to 60 mph overnight. Peak winds will occur tomorrow morning, when they will be blowing at a sustained 50-70 mph with gusts to 80 mph. Irene's winds increase sharply with height above the ground. The winds will be roughly 20 percent faster at 30 stories above ground and 30 percent faster at 80 stories and above.

The rain that occurred earlier today was enough to make this month the rainiest August ever recorded at Central Park. Yay? The Weather Service expects another 6-10 inches of rain from the rest of the storm.

Contact the author of this article or email tips@gothamist.com with further questions, comments or tips.

By Joe Schumacher in News on August 27, 2011 6:45 PM

Comments [rss]

TheDoctorWhoCuresCancer

Absolutely. There was no hurricane in NYC.

This was well known because the Atlantic water temperature was only 72 degrees for days before it hit. The temperature needs to be 80 degrees for a hurricane to maintain itself.

The whole thing was bogus for NY. NC? Yes, definitely. NY? No effing way!

smalll

Guess what, John was right. It's a big nothing. But at times, there IS a perfect storm -- a perfect storm of ratings-boosting media, every little politician who wants to seem like a big man by getting behind a podium and ordering people to evacuate, your average American (slightly right-leaning) who is so FEARFUL, and even your upper-middle-class, latte-liberal leftists who have their own longing for disaster (I blame "what rough beast" Yeats, World War I, and just generally their anti-humanist, anti-civilizationist bent.)

A perfect strom of hype.

Dingo19

Don't feed the obvious and not very good troll.

Mayonnaise Hands

You pretty much described the whole board. Could you be more specific?

John

WTH are the nannies making such a big deal about people hanging out at a beach in Rhode Island 15 hours before the storm? 'oh, boy. I don't know why these people are here. Oh, boy!'

Micheal

Are all the anti-subway shutdown folks members of the same trainspotter's club? The prospect of a few days without the rumbling of a choo choo underfoot must just be too daunting for some people.

Mayonnaise Hands

IMPORTANT! Everyone in the East Coast must watch this important Hurricane Irene preparedness video!!http://youtu.be/wzGsnMrKo-Q

robingee

MAN, SOME PEEPS BE HATIN' ON DA STORM, DAMN!

jillianmarkin

NBC = nothing but crap

jillianmarkin

I'm with John, I'm from FL, and these category storms only DRIVE the economy, I've had family members tell me that they are disappointed that this minor storm didn't come their way. NYC deals with storms with this capacity of wind in the winter and no one ever FREAKS OUT THEN! Bloomberg is just trying to make up for the XMAS mistake he made while on his vacation. Cuomo has just called for MORE national guards and FOR WHAT!?? If there is no one to rescue...cause there is SUCH MINIMAL FLOODING...or because EVERY EVACUATED like they said they would, why would we need MORE waste of NYC money!

Lloyd Bergenson

These storms may be good for supermarkets and drugstores, but the net economic effect is probably negative as all the other businesses that are forced to shut down have lost productivity.

redbloodedcupcake

No one knows what's going to happen. The storm still has the potential to damage infrastructure heavily and strand many people, especially if they did not evacuate and floods reach unsafe levels. If the city didn't have enough first responders, there would be an even bigger backlash, and the city would probably be hit up for even more money from lawsuits. Best to have everyone in a safe zone than in a potentially fatal one.

soothsayer

hi, you are new to the city aren't you, i can tell.

redbloodedcupcake

Nope not at all.

redbloodedcupcake

The National Weather Service has been calling for a storm of unprecedented size and potential for damage for days now. We live in a huge city of 8 million lives, right in its path. No one knows what's going to happen. Hasn't anyone ever heard the saying "Prepare for the worst, hope for the best"?

groganz

This storm is like a new Harry Potter book. So much hype and speculation preceding it, when all you want to do is read the damn thing, find out how it ends and get the hell on with your life.

John

cover their asses in the extraordinarily unlikely event that some minor damage will occur..."better safe than sorry!" says Bloomberg. On the second thought, though, I'd say the primary reason driving the alarmism and hysteria - which has effected politicians' decisions - is the obsessive and ridiculous media coverage which has been hounding us for days.

Joe_Schumacher

Your arguments would be better received if a) they made sense and b) you actually knew how to use the Reply button instead of starting a new thread with every comment.

John

It'll be a rain storm but not a hurricane. Look at the map. Look at the non-damage that's been done so far. Use common sense. In hindsight, I predict it will become clear that both the evacuations and the MTA closings were totally unnecessary. The 'weather people' want ratings. Telling people the truth in this case automatically means much lower ratings.

robingee

Hey John, why don't you take a camera to a pier (a short one) tomorrow and report on how lame the storm is for us? Waiting for your report!

John

If I have to go hang off a short pier to feel the effects, this storm is even more pathetic than I thought.

robingee

Cool, can't wait to see your report!

Micheal

Considering that the storm hasn't even hit yet, and won't for hours, I can only assume you're hitting those bottles pretty hard.

Xezlec

Non-damage? Practically the entire state of North Carolina has lost power. Are you an idiot? And you think the National Weather Service wants "ratings"? You do know they don't play advertisements, right? What, pray tell, are the ratings for?

John

Which alarmist reports have emanated from the National Weather Service? In any case, I shouldn't have to point out that it's a US government agency, as corruptible as any other branch of the government. Just as the Weather Channel can be corrupted by its owner, NBC.

John

You're an asshole if you think the evacuation was done for any reason other than to cover politicians' asses.

randomtransplant

Dicks like you make it harder to do their jobs. 'covering of asses' doesn't make sense when tough calls like shutting the trains happen.

G M

Cover their asses from what, the storm the media and government conspiracy know to be 100% non-existant? Hurr durr my name is John and I'm trying really hard to think here.

robingee

LOL, "hurr durr"

John

yeah, liars. They're invested in all this coverage now. No going back...

G M

Just like you're invested in trolling this story with inane comments that show you're mentally deficient. No going back.

Guest

I live in BPC and my building is 20 feet above sea level. Evacuation was moronic call.

G M

You're a moron if you don't realize the evacuation was to keep people in the urban first-responder safety net.

Micheal

joesmith is employing the old "I've Got Mine Jack" principle.

John

Good thing Bloomberg shut the subway down 30 hours in advance of when the storm's hitting. The storm? Ha. What storm? It's going to dissipate by then...what a joke this whole thing is. The media and the government tag team to do its usual worst.

G M

Hi John, considering that you are an expert meteorologist predicting something completely different than everyone other weather person out there, could you maybe let us know how you came upon the conclusion this hurricane would suddenly dissipate and no longer be a storm before it got to NYC?

John

So, basically, according to the math, the thing won't hit NYC for at least another 20 hours. Absurd. Does anyone seriously believe it's still going to be as strong by then (not that it's even strong now)?

jamieob256

Hey John -- Just to let you know, your math is wrong and Irene is still a hurricane with its eye due in the city at about 9:30 a.m. -- a little less than an hour away.

Joe_Schumacher

Did you not read the rest of the post?

G M

The National Weather service seems to think it will be pretty damn strong even 20+ hours from now. Of course they're probably liars or idiots, right?:

24H 28/1800Z 41.7N 73.2W 60 KT 70 MPH...INLAND

mmheidelberger

And will probably become disoriented and confuse the gas and break pedals...

Tony

13 miles per hour?! Christ gramma, get your ass in gear! I got places to be this week i cant do this every day.

Micheal

Often with hurricanes, the slower the speed the more dangerous they are. Reading some of these comments, I have to wonder if they shut down Wikipedia this weekend too.