Irene 2011: Major Hurricane Posing 'Extreme' Threat to Mid-Atlantic, Northeast

Hurricane Irene continues a path Friday toward wreaking havoc in the U.S. Mid-Atlantic, Northeast and New England regions, likely assaulting major metropolitan areas including New York, Hartford, Washington, Boston and Philadelphia.

Current models suggest specific timing will be: Virginia (Sunday a.m. ET); Washington, D.C. (Sunday around noon ET); and New York (Sunday p.m. ET).

Called by one weather expert as potentially the storm of a lifetime for the upper U.S. East Coast, Hurricane Irene poses extraordinary threat to the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast United States beginning late Friday and into Monday, weather forecasters said.

Irene weakened slightly Friday morning but the storm remains a high-end Category 2 and is expected to re-strengthen later today into a Category 3 storm before assaulting the Mid-Atlantic, Northeast, and New England. Major metropolitan areas that rarely get hit by a storm of hurricane strength are in the line of fire, including New York, Hartford and Boston.

In fact, the entire highly populated I-95 corridor up the U.S. East Coast faces potentially a storm of a lifetime as Irene makes a path up the coast beginning Friday and into the end of the weekend.

States of emergency have been declared from North Carolina to Virginia, New Jersey and New York. On Friday, models still showed Irene might make a direct hit on New York, America's largest city. New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who faced criticism during the administration's slow response to a blizzard in December, visited flood-prone parts of Queens Thursday to outline comprehensive hurricane response plans for the city.

Bloomberg said he could decide as early as Friday night to evacuate New Yorkers at risk in low-lying areas, including Coney Island in Brooklyn, and that the city's transportation system could be shut down if forecasts continue to suggest New York will get hit hard by Irene.

Current forecast models updated Friday show Irene is likely to make landfall in the Mid-Atlantic region by early Sunday morning as a strong Category 2 storm with winds of 100 miles per hour or more before reaching New York -- and possibly making a rare direct hit on the city late Sunday while still at hurricane strength.

Weather experts are labeling Irene an extraordinary threat from eastern North Carolina to southern New England.

This is a particularly threatening situation and it's best for people to be on alert, said Dr. Rick Knabb and senior meteorologist Stu Ostro at The Weather Channel.

Computer models are trending toward a forecast solution of rare potency for portions of the Northeast, according to the The Weather Channel experts. They say Irene will be a serious and multi-hazard threat for the major metropolitan areas which include major cities Norfolk, Washington, D.C., Baltimore, Philadelphia, New York City, Hartford and Boston.

Residents can expect downed trees and power lines, flooding, high winds and power outages, with significant impacts of surge and high waves and beach erosion along coast lines.

Irene will come close to the North Carolina coast late Friday night, with impact through Saturday. Northeast impacts will last through Monday as the Irene drops to tropical storm strength before departing the U.S.