Irene Spares East Coast

Luckily for residents on the east coast, hurricane Irene turned north and east just as she was revving up into a full hurricane.

This image, showing Irene just after she became a full-blown hurricane - was captured by the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) satellite on Aug. 15. The TRMM measured the height of the rain columns within the hurricane, which gives forecasters a hint as to whether a storm is strengthening. As water vapor rises, it cools, condenses into rain, and releases heat - heat that fuels the hurricane.

The higher water rises before cooling, the more intense the storm tends to be. In this image, the tallest towers stretched over 10 miles into the atmosphere. These produce the heaviest rain and are shown here in red. High towers can be a sign that a storm is strengthening and shortly after this image was taken, Irene's winds jumped up to 90 miles per hour.

Irene formed west of the Cape Verde Islands in the central Atlantic - unusual this early in the season because water temperatures in this region are not typically warm enough. But this part of the Atlantic has been much warmer than normal this season - hurricane Emily also formed here in early July.

Irene kept the record-fast pace of the 2005 Atlantic hurricane season moving, becoming the earliest ninth named storm. And just think what September will bring when the traditional hurricane peak season hits.

--Bjorn Carey

2005 Hurricane Guide

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Credit: NASA Earth Observatory