Hurricane Irene was imaged by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on the Aqua satellite at 18:00 GMT on August 14, 2005. Irene is the third hurricane of the 2005 Atlantic hurricane season. The storm is moving northeast along the east coast of the United States and is not expected to make landfall.
Along the top of the image, haze hugs the coast, blowing out over the Atlantic over the Chesapeake Bay. Such haze develops when hot, muggy weather caused by a high pressure system traps stagnant air. Emissions from cars and power plants build up, leading to hazy skies.
Irene, the 9th tropical storm of the Atlantic hurricane season, has weakened into a depression with winds less than 56 kph, and tropical Storm Harvey continued to move into the open Atlantic Ocean. Irene formed on Sunday east-northeast of the Leeward Islands in the Caribbean and by 15:00 GMT on Monday was located around 1376 kilometres away from them.
Tropical Storm Harvey is heading north-eastwards at 35 kph, about 860 kilometres southeast of Cape Race, Newfoundland, with winds of 80 kph; but the storm is gradually losing form and strength as it moved over cooler waters.
While neither storm threatened landfall, the 2005 hurricane season has already set records.