Hurricane Lee is expected to remain a large and dangerous storm into the weekend, National Hurricane Center forecasters warned Wednesday night, as they issued hurricane and tropical storm watches for parts of coastal New England and Atlantic Canada. Image courtesy NOAA
Hurricane Lee is expected to remain a large and dangerous storm into the weekend, National Hurricane Center forecasters warned Wednesday night, as they issued hurricane and tropical storm watches for parts of coastal New England and Atlantic Canada.
“Hurricane conditions, heavy rainfall and coastal flooding are possible in portions of eastern Maine on Saturday,” the NHC said, as it issued a hurricane watch for the area. Advertisement
In its 11 p.m. AST update, the NHC located Lee about 345 miles south-southwest of Bermuda. It was moving north at 9 mph and carrying maximum sustained winds of 105 mph.
The Canadian Hurricane Center also issued a hurricane watch for the coast of New Brunswick from the U.S.-Canada border to Point Lepreau, including Grand Manan Island.
A hurricane watch was issued for the coast of Nova Scotia from Digby to Medway Harbor. Advertisement
A tropical storm warning is currently in effect for Bermuda. Tropical storm conditions are expected in Bermuda within the next 12 hours, according to the NHC.
Tropical storm watches are in effect for Watch Hill in Rhode Island to Stonington in Maine, as well as Block Island, Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket in the eastern United States.
A tropical storm watch extends into Canada along New Brunswick from Point Lepreau to Fort Lawrence, along Nova Scotia’s west coast from north of Digby to Fort Lawrence and along Nova Scotia’s southeast coast from north of Medway Harbor to Porter’s Lake.
The NHC said in a statement, “A turn toward the north is expected by tonight, followed by an increase in speed on Thursday and Friday. On the forecast track, the center of Lee will pass west of Bermuda Thursday and Thursday night and then approach the coast of New England or Atlantic Canada Friday and Saturday.”
Lee became a Category 3 storm on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale on Monday morning. Slow weakening is forecast for the next few days, but Lee is likely to remain a very large and dangerous hurricane into the weekend, according to the National Hurricane Center. Advertisement
The northeastern United States and Atlantic Canada were encouraged to monitor Lee’s progress as watches were issued Wednesday night.
The center of Lee will move west of Bermuda Thursday and Thursday night, and will then approach the coasts of New England or Canada later this week.
Forecasters warned about hazardous surf and rip currents at western Atlantic beaches throughout the week.
Lee was expected to generate swells that were likely to cause life-threatening surf and rip current conditions in portions of the Lesser Antilles, the British and U.S. Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico, Hispaniola, the Turks and Caicos Islands, the Bahamas and Bermuda.
Dangerous surf and rip currents are affecting parts of the southeastern U.S. coast. Those conditions are expected to spread northward along much of the U.S. East Coast and Atlantic Canada over the next couple of days.
Though its core is expected to pass west of Bermuda, the forecasters are warning that “the large wind field of the storm is likely to bring wind impacts to the island later this week.”
Outer rain bands from Lee could produce rainfall of 1 to 2 inches across Bermuda Thursday and Friday, according to the NHC’s 11 p.m. Wednesday update.
