Irene and Storm Surge

Hurricane Irene: Ocean City evacuates, waves 16-30 feet, storm track east _Tony Pann_ (http://www.examiner.com/weather-in-baltimore/tony-pann) , Baltimore Weather Examiner August 26, 2011 - As Ocean City goes into Phase 3 mandatory evacuation mode forceing people west, the latest on Irene might actually be a little shift to the east. The overnight developments of Hurricane Irene has shown a little drop of the winds and a slight adjustment to how it passes Maryland. The winds at 5 am were sustained at 110 mph. The hurricane force winds extend 90 miles away, while tropical storm force winds reach 290 miles away from the storm's center. The latest on the storm will still bear down hard on the coastline, but the side of the track is extremely important. Left of the eye is the weaker side, while the full force will clip North Carolina's outer banks and then up into New England. For Maryland, the strongest winds will be on Sunday morning, with a direction from the north. That is important since the motion will help to push water down the Chesapeake Bay. While watching high tides and storm surge will be important on Saturday evening, Sunday will not be as bad as it could be. See the local forecast maps and images of Irene in the slide show on the left. Waves will be over 30 feet in the ocean just east of the coast, but could crash over 16 ft on to the beaches with major erosion expected