MIAMI (AP) - Irene is being retired from the list of storm names because the 2011 hurricane killed 49 people and caused more than $15 billion in damage.
    
A report from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration says the name will be replaced by Irma. Irene was retired Friday from the official list of Atlantic Basin tropical storm names by the World Meteorological Organization's hurricane committee.
    
The report says storm names are reused every six years unless retired for causing considerable casualties or damage. Irene is the 76th name to be retired from the Atlantic list since 1954.
    
Five people were killed in the Dominican Republic after Hurricane Irene stormed through the Caribbean last August. Three died in Haiti. And 41 died in the U.S. when Irene barreled up the Eastern Seaboard.

If you look to the west in the evening sky this week your are sure to catch a glimpse of  two of the atmosphere's brightest planets, Venus and Jupiter. Although hundreds of  millions of miles apart, an optical illusion leads you to believe they are very close.

The show will peak tonight, March 15 and is best viewed on the western horizon for four hours after sunset.

There is a Winter Weather Advisory for many areas in the Capital Region from midnight Wednesday to 12 p.m. Thursday. Snow, sleet and freezing rain is expected for the area.

According to the National Weather Service, 1 to 2 inches of snow and sleet and up to a tenth of an inch of ice is expected from Albany Southward. In areas North of Albany, 2 to 4 inches of snow mixed with sleet is expected with up to a tenth of an inch of ice. Drivers are warned of potential hazardous road conditions for the duration of the weather advisory.

The following counties could see wet weather: Eastern Albany, Eastern Columbia, Eastern Greene, Eastern Rensselaer, Eastern Schenectady, Montgomery, Northern Fulton, Northern Saratoga, Northern Washington, Schoharie, Southeast Warren, Southern Fulton, Southern Saratoga, Southern Washington, Western Albany, Western Columbia, Western Greene, Western Rensselaer, and Western Schenectady.