Beginning on August 15, the NHC began forecasting that the hurricane would make landfall on the Outer Banks of North Carolina within two days. Early on August 16, the eye became better defined, although the feature diminished within a few hours, and the NHC was on the verge of downgrading Felix to tropical storm status. A break in the ridge allowed Felix to turn to the north, bringing it about 150 mi (250 km) east of the Outer Banks. An approaching trough turned the hurricane to a northeast drift, and there was initial uncertainty whether Felix would loop back to the west or recurve to the northeast. During this time, the system remained a minimal hurricane, maintaining a large eye about 60 to 80 miles (95 to 130 km) in diameter, but with weak convection due to cooler air. After the trough that turned Felix to the east-northeast bypassed it to the north, the hurricane turned to the southeast, executing a small loop while northwest of Bermuda. On August 20, Felix weakened below hurricane intensity for the first time in nine days, due to cooler waters and increased wind shear. By that time, the convection was removed from the center, and another trough brought the storm to the northeast. While passing east of Newfoundland on August 22, Felix became extratropical. The remnants continued to the northeast, eventually passing north of the United Kingdom on August 25.