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Community Corner

Hurricane Irene Reaches Carolinas, Weakens Slightly

The storm is still packing 100 mph winds as it heads up the East Coast.

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 eye wall. 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 she reaches our area.

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

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

Find out what's happening in Stratfordwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

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

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