Noel...Close Call for Beaches The weather will be fairly quiet again Today at home...the big story is still Noel. It is a huge storm now and it will begin to loose its tropical characteristics Today and Saturday. That does not mean it's going to weaken all that much. All of the computer models keep it off shore now as it passes going into the start of the weekend. It will be close enough, I think, for the DelMarVa beaches to have wind gusts over 50 MPH and some rain on the western edge of this big storm. New England will have the worst effects from Noel. I think there will be wind gusts over 70 MPH and some heavy rain from Long Island up through Boston. It may not be classified as a hurricane when it gets there, but there will be hurricane force winds. On the back side of the storm for us, we could have some gusty conditions here on Saturday. As is often the case, a big storm going up the coast late in the season signals a huge change in the weather pattern...we will get our first taste of winter like weather by the middle of next week.  ¶ 8:19 AM