Hurricane Irene Reaches Carolinas, Weakens Slightly

As expected, Hurricane Irene is beginning to weaken slightly as she heads toward land.

Current enhanced infrared images of the storm now show a decrease in the intense convection within the eyewall. In fact, the eye itself is beginning to close up as it moves further north.

The weakening of the storm system was expected. It is not a sign that Irene will be weaker by the time it reaches our area.

In fact, there still is a brief period where we may see some intensification as it heads further north and encounters the Gulf Stream.

As of 2 p.m., maximum sustained winds are still an impressive 100 miles per hour, which categorizes Irene as a Category 2 hurricane.

Patch will have another update this evening on the weather forecast.