Hurricane Irene was an Atlantic hurricane that formed in the 2005 Atlantic hurricane season. The storm formed near the Cape Verde Islands on August 4. It moved across the Atlantic Ocean, and it turned northward around Bermuda. The storm lost its name as a tropical cyclone to the southeast of Newfoundland. Irene lasted for 14 days as a tropical system. That is the longest time of any storm of the 2005 season.
Irene was a hard storm to forecast. The storm almost died out on August 10, but it gained back its strength. Irene reached Category 2 hurricane strength on August 16. Because the storm stayed far away from land, no tropical cyclone warnings were declared. Also, Irene did not cause any bad damage. However, it caused strong waves along the East Coast of the United States. Because of the waves from Irene, a 16-year-old boy drowned after being caught in a rip current near Long Beach, New York. Lifeguards at one beach made over 100 rescues. The name "Irene" was used again in 2011.