Irene's Biggest Impacts Here (Updated 10 p.m.)

UPDATE, 9:50 p.m.: At 8 p.m., Hurricane Irene was 167 miles off the coast of Charleston with sustained winds of 100 mph.

Here are the peak wind gusts, through 8:30 p.m., via the National Weather Service:

• Folly Beach 55 mph
• Waterfront Park 49 mph
• Charleston Harbor 46 mph
• Charleston Airport 41 mph

The most significant impact in Charleston at this point appears to have been power outages earlier in the day and some peninsular flooding that has reportedly receded.

Take a and submit your own.

First Reporting: National Weather Service Charleston area forecaster Mike Emlaw said Friday afternoon that over the next six hours the Charleston area can expect similar conditions to those experienced in the past six hours.

"We will have rain bands from Hurricane Irene coming ashore, and stretches without rain," Emlaw said. "When it's not raining the winds will be relatively mild, but when we have a band come through we'll see wind speeds of 20 to 30 mph with some gusts up to about 50 mph."

The strongest gust to hit the area occurred on Folly Beach on Friday, registering 56 mph at the beach, Emlaw said. A weather station in Downtown Charleston recorded a 49 mph gust.

The biggest worry for the area will come around 6 p.m. as high tide rolls in on top of the rain Irene is dumping on the area.

"We're in a high astronomical tide period now, which means there is a lot of variation between high and low tide," Emlaw said. "We may have some coastal flooding, especially in Downtown and in other low-lying areas."

Irene is expected to make landfall around daybreak Saturday at Atlantic Beach, N.C.