Irene will wind down overnight

Hurricane Irene produced damage similar to what we experienced in Hurricane Isabel in 2003, from wind, power outages, and rainfall. The storm surge at the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay is at about 4 feet, and earlier this evening, the water level at the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel peaked near the record level from Hurricane Isabel in 2003. Rainfall amounts have ranged 5"-10" mainly along and east of I-95, with a drastic drop-off in rain totals the farther west away from I-95 and Irene. Richmond set a new daily record rainfall today, with more than 5" of rainfall (and still raining as of this blog update).

Here are some of the highest wind gusts measured today in Virginia:
83 mph Mathews Co on Chesapeake Bay
76 mph Williamsburg
71 mph Richmond International Airport
68 mph Virginia Beach
67 mph Langley Air Force Base in Southeast VA
66 mph Chesapeake Beach
63 mph Downtown Richmond (Roof of Dominion Building)

And here are some of the highest rainfall totals as of this posting (still raining):
9.6" Wakefield
8.5" Newland
8.0" Suffolk
7.3" Norfolk
7.0" Williamsburg
5.3" Richmond International Airport
5.0" Chester

Hurricane Irene will continue to move toward New England overnight, slamming into Long Island tomorrow. As of this blog posting, you can see Irene's center of circulation over the Atlantic Ocean east of Virginia's Eastern Shore. Skies are already clearing in far southwest Virginia!

Stay with CBS6, we'll keep you ahead of the storm.
--Meteorologist Carrie Rose