Northeast states are bracing for Irene's passing this weekend: if you're in the path (or skirting the path) of the hurricane, what's going on near you?

What are the skies like? How's the relative humidity? Are the local animals doing anything out of the ordinary (domestic as well as wild)?

Any overt signs manifesting in the local flora or fauna?

Let us know in comments: tell us your approximate location (Central MA, Rhode Island, MA East Coast, Southern NH, Eastern or Western CT, Manhattan, New York City, etc.) and then tell us what you're seeing. If you can make an update every few hours (electricity & weather permitting), it would help us paint a picture of the storm's passing.

Regardless, please stay safe. If there are any elderly or disabled folks in your area, check in on them or invite them over - be a good neighbor, and help those who may have a rougher time of it.

Thank you, and be safe.

An EF-4 tornado ripped through the suburbs of St. Louis late Friday evening, as part of a line of storms stretching across the midwest that dropped massive hail, caused damaging straight-line winds, spawned several tornadoes, and exacerbated flooding across the Ohio River.

Folks along the east coast of New England are hearing more and more from their local weather stations about a possible blizzard due to blow in on Sunday -- in the Boston area, a "blizzard warning" has been issued effective from noon Sunday until early Monday evening.

The large-scale snow-storm -- which still has a chance of missing the area, or scaling back in size, duration and scope -- would certainly count as a harbinger of the arrival of a real New England winter.

Be safe out there, folks, if you've got to be out and about. If you're in New England, in an area affected by the storm, and if you are staying in, stay warm.

And to all, the countdown until New Year's eve has begun -- are you ready for 2011?

Via the Boston.com article Earl Bears Down by Andrew Ryan and Eric Moskowitz:

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Hurricane Earl swelled yesterday into a massive storm almost the size of New England, swirling north up the Eastern Seaboard on a track expected to take it perilously close to Nantucket around midnight tonight.

[...snip...]

Forecasters expect the full fury of the storm to pass just southeast of Nantucket as a Category 1 or 2 storm, enveloping the island, Martha’s Vineyard, Cape Cod, and portions of Southeastern Massachusetts in hurricane-force winds gusting up to 100 miles per hour and bringing possible flash floods.

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Here's hoping that folks in New England are taking care to be safe and batten down the hatches.

What's the weather like where you are?

This is an Open Thread.

Apparently, today is the start of a second heat wave in the area. Mah-velous.

What are you doing to keep cool?

This is an Open Thread.