Hurricane Irene

[Kevin Seitzer]

Currently in the Bahamas, Irene is heading toward the Outer Banks and from there to landfall somewhere between New Jersey and Nova Scotia. The forecasters say it's likely to retain hurricane strength much farther north than is normal due to unusually high temperatures off the Atlantic coast.

Any RJ-ers worried about their house in the Hamptons or otherwise have reason to keep an eye on this storm?

[Piney Boy]

Um I live in NJ. 1 hr west of Seaside Heights off of Rt 70. Going to be interesting. Had enough power outages this summer for a couple of years. Not looking forward to more.

[umjewman]

New York/New Jersey getting earthquakes? Hurricanes? Maybe Harold Camping was off by three months?

[Erik]

I have to drive down to Philly for a FF draft on Sunday morning. I'll be going west instead of east, but still.

[ironfist]

Supposed to have my daughter's 2nd birthday party at our house Saturday...just hope it holds off long enough.

[Moonlight J]

Amazing how it's right there off FL's coast and now it's going to to veer off to the northeast and you all have a better chance of getting hit than FL does.

[Judge Jude]

for once.

[Kevin Seitzer]

The latest on Irene this morning doesn't look good:

After making landfall on the North Carolina coast Saturday afternoon or evening, Irene is likely to continue almost due north, bringing hurricane conditions to the entire mid-Atlantic coast, from North Carolina to Long Island, New York. This makes for a difficult forecast, since a slight change in Irene's track will make a huge difference in where hurricane conditions will be felt. If Irene stays inland over eastern North Carolina, like the ECMWF and GFDL models are predicting, this will knock down the storm's strength enough so that it may no longer be a hurricane once it reaches New Jersey. On the other hand, if Irene grazes the Outer Banks and continues northwards into New Jersey, like the GFS model is predicting, this could easily be a Category 2 hurricane for New Jersey and Category 1 hurricane for New York City. A more easterly track into Long Island would likely mean a Category 2 landfall there.

http://www.wunderground.com/blog/JeffMasters/comment.html?entrynum=1899

[Erik]

Come on, ECMWF and GFDL!

[Hammer]

Irene sucks for H2H leagues.

[Erik]

I have to drive down to Philly for a FF draft on Sunday morning. I'll be going west instead of east, but still.

Draft changed to Saturday morning. Phew.

[Judge Jude]

Giants-Jets Saturday night at Meadowlands moved up from 7 pm to 2 pm.

The Barclays, the first round of the PGA Tour playoffs, is at Plainfield CC in North Jersey this weekend. Good luck with that Sunday final round!

[Erik]

Phillies-Marlins Sunday game moved to Saturday, where it will be part of a day-night doubleheader. I doubt they get both games in regardless.

[Judge Jude]

"The Mama Bears were out at the grocery stores tonight,” says Mrs. Judge.

The local Target had a “WE ARE OUT OF WATER” sign by 9 p.m. Another store she went to ran out of lanterns, batteries, etc. (keep in mind that it will be a lovely sunny day tomorrow, and rainy but calm at least into Saturday night here and probably until Sunday afternoon.)

One guy on the grocery line said, “I’ve got candles, so at least my wife won’t kick my ass when I get home.”

We are two childless renters living on the 4th floor of a condo complex where even after all these floods the last two years, I’ve never even seen a small puddle in the parking lot. Nowhere near a river. If the lights go out, I'm sure we'll manage somehow.

But apparently we still have to be extra cautious. She bought two cases of water from another store (bringing the home tally to about 70 bottles). Also snagged the last 3 Weight Watchers pasta entrees. I noted that maybe someone else needed them, and she said, “Hey, I’m from Indiana. It’s dog eat dog when Mother Nature is stalking.”).

I can only imagine what homeowner parents in a flood zone were up to tonight…..

[Grinch]

Long Island has been lucky for a few decades. Looks like our luck may have worn out. I'm not in the expected flood zone, but not too far from it either. Looks like I'll be working the entire weekend. I didn't stock up on water, but I do have plenty of wine.