Photo by Wendy Harman

The once mighty Hurricane Earl has now been downgraded to a Tropical Storm as it moves up and out of New England. The east coast and the mid-Atlantic dodged a bullet, with relatively minor damage and no reports of injuries. Here in the District, we didn’t even see a drop of rain, though we did see some impressive clouds.

What does this mean for beachgoers? Well, if you canceled your hotel reservation it probably means wallowing for the duration of the long weekend. If not, it means you are hitting the roads. Right now, most of the area’s major highways are looking good, except for the usual delays on sections of 66, 95 South and the Beltway. Doesn’t look like anything too heinous at the moment.

Beaches are expected to be quite crowded despite the previous concern over Hurricane Earl. WTOP and other outlets report there were some hotel cancellations for Friday, but booking is mostly full for the rest of the weekend.