New satellite images show the 10-day genesis of Hurricane Irene from the storm’s birth in the tropics to its death over the East Coast of North America.

A geostationary weather satellite called GOES-13 recorded Irene’s genesis as a tropical wave on Aug. 19 all the way through its dissipation today over Maine. The satellite orbits about 22,300 miles above the Earth and began its weather-recording mission in earnest on May 14, 2010. Since then it has beamed its view to the ground every 30 minutes and captured other significant weather events, including February’s colossal blizzard. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration released the video Aug. 29.

Hurricane Irene, the first of the 2011 Atlantic season, reached an intensity of category 3 with sustained winds of 125 mph as it barreled over the Bahamas. Irene weakened to a tropical storm by the time its center reached New England cities, but stretched to 600 miles wide before it made landfall on Aug. 27. Irene moved slowly, flooding many towns with torrential rain. In eastern North Carolina, for example, the National Weather Service recorded between 10 and 14 inches of rain in a single day.

Current estimates of uninsured damage to the United States reach about $7 billion. However, the Caribbean islands sustained the most intense damage: It may exceed $1 billion.

Video: NOAAVisualizations/YouTube

Image: NASA/NOAA GOES project [high-resolution version available]

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