Irene Aims for North Carolina

Hurricane Irene has arrived: the Category 1 storm made landfall near Cape Lookout, North Carolina at 8 a.m. Saturday morning. After passing over the Outer Banks, the storm is expected to hug the coast and make a second landfall in western Long Island. Its top wind speeds are currently around 85 miles per hour—although experts caution that the main concern with Irene is not its wind speed but its enormous size. While some further weakening is expected after the storm hits North Carolina, the National Hurricane Center warns “Irene is forecast to remain a hurricane as it moves near or over the mid-Atlantic states and New England.” Track the storm here.