 After briefly weakening on August 23, however, Irene began to develop a distinct eye encircled by an area of deepening convection the next morning.Moving erratically through the southeast Bahamas over very warm waters, Irene quickly expanded as its outflow aloft became very well established; the cyclone intensified into a Category 3 major hurricane as it recurved toward the northwest along a weakness in the subtropical ridge.The cyclone subsequently underwent a partial eyewall replacement cycle, which resulted in some reduction in its winds.