The Lowcountry is bracing for a storm that might not come. Emergency operations centers opened Tuesday and officials began planning for possible evacuations. But Hurricane Irene was forecast to pass well offshore Friday night and early Saturday. By Thursday, the first waves and rip currents are expected to lash Lowcountry beaches. And winds should pick up that night. Friday afternoon the rain bands move in. But it shouldn't get any worse than a tropical storm. At 8 a.m. Wednesday, the storm's position was 21.9 N and 73.3 W with maximum sustained winds of 115 mph, making it a Category 3 storm. On Tuesday evening, the National Hurricane Center put hurricane's predicted track along the Outer Banks in North Carolina and Charleston at the southern edge of the area considered possible for landfall. Winds could peak near 40 mph Friday, "especially at the coast," said Pete Mohlin, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Charleston. Surf is forecast to peak at 5 to 7 feet late Friday and early Saturday. Total rain could be as heavy as 2 to 4 inches in the area. While forecasters said we should see a more northerly turn late Thursday, they urged caution. "We're not out of the threat zone," said Julie Packett, a Weather Service meteoroligist in Charleston. If the track were to shift farther west, she said, the Lowcountry could easily see stronger effects from the hurricane.

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