Look south
"One must now turn a weather eye in another direction, keeping watch to the south, where tropical storm activity accelerates markedly after July 15. A storm track leading from the tropics along the Eastern Seaboard off Cape Hatteras and past Cape Cod poses an increasing threat to New England, though dangerous hurricanes usually postpone their visits northward until the last week in August or later.''
-- From the "August'' chapter of The Country Journal New England Weather Book, by David Ludlum.