This post was written by Melissa Turley.

The National Hurricane Center downgraded Hurricane Irene from a Category 3 to a Category 2 storm Friday when the storm’s winds slowed to under 101 mph.

A 2 p.m. bulletin from the center said Irene has maximum sustained winds of 100 mph, but those numbers will likely drop as the storm makes land Saturday in the Carolinas.

The National Weather Service issued a flood watch warning for the D.C. area. Nearby Arlington, Va. declared a state of local emergency at about 3:45 p.m.

The outermost bands of Hurricane Irene, which are reaching out more than 290 miles from the eye of the storm, are beginning to bring wind to D.C., but the District’s weather is still in a calm.

Irene is expected to remain a hurricane as it moves along the mid-Atlantic coast throughout Sunday.