Hurricane Irene

Hurricane Irene Carves Path of Destruction through Jersey Shore

Power outages, flooding and structural damage a concern as storm moves up the coast

Hurricane Irene has moved past the Jersey Shore, leaving a trail of destruction and causing major flooding in some oceanfront communities.  Damaging winds and heavy rains associated with the storm eventually led to thousands of customers being left without electricity in Monmouth and Ocean counties. Wind and rain could continue throughout the day until about 5 p.m., forecasters said.  Jersey Central Power & Light spokesman Ron Morano said that as of Sunday morning,  more than 110,000 customers were without power in central Jersey – that includes Monmouth, Ocean, Middlesex, Mercer and Burlington counties – and that number is expected to rise with the next report at 11 a.m. As of 7:30 a.m., JCP&L's online power outage map indicated that …

•  1 Comment
• Photos (2)
• Videos (2)

Hurricane Irene Forecasted to Track East, Officials Urge Preparation

National Hurricane Center forecasters say storm tracking eastward due to a subtropical ridge

Though Hurricane Irene has evolved to become a physically "impressive" storm, it will most likely track farther to the east and slightly farther away from land, according to predictions from the National Hurricane Center. Hurricane Center Forecaster Todd Kimberlain wrote in an advisory Wednesday morning that while the current forecast track of the storm has not changed much since yesterday, newer forecast models are saying the storm may move a bit farther to the east than first expected. "The dynamic track model concensus has, again, shifted a little to the east from the previous [forecast] package," Kimberlain wrote in an 8 a.m. forecast discussion posted on the National Hurricane Center's website. Meteorologist Steve DiMartino, of …

• Photos (1)

Hurricane Irene

As Hurricane Irene's Effects Remain Uncertain, Forecasters Urge Caution

New Jersey is in the 5-day cone of uncertainty for the season's first hurricane

“It looks like it will affect us one way or another." That is how the National Weather Service in Mount Holly is describing the potential impacts of Hurricane Irene on the Jersey Shore. Meteorologists are advising coastal residents to plan ahead for a nasty weekend. As of 11 a.m. Tuesday, Irene was situated about 50 miles north-northwest of Puerto Plata in the Dominican Republic (or 70 miles south of the Grand Turk Island). The Category 2 hurricane's maximum recorded wind speed by a Hurricane Hunter plane was 100 mph. The National Hurricane Center is currently predicting that the storm will make an initial landfall off the southern North Carolina coast by late Saturday night, but New Jersey is not out of the woods. In the updated forecast …

• Photos (1)