A tropical wave moving off the coast of Africa on August 1st gave way to a tropical depression on the 4th. A northwestward turn put the system over cooler waters and halted development until the 7th, when it was named Tropical Storm Irene.

Irene continued moving about the waters of the Atlantic, weakening back to a depression, and then regaining tropical storm status once again on the 10th.

Residents on the east coast kept a close watch on Irene as the storm made a northwest turn, moving between Bermuda and Cape Hatteras, North Carolina on August 14th.

Finally, the system made its final turn toward the northeast and raced out to sea.

Hurricane Irene was at one point a strong category 2 storm. Irene remained over open waters for its entire life, only affecting the United States with some high surf along the east coast.