Hurricane Lee ‘restrengthening’ but path remains unclear as Margot nears hurricane status: Live
Hurricane Lee downgraded to Category 3
Hurricane Lee is picking up intensity as a Category 3 storm as it whirls across the open Atlantic Ocean, with “additional strengthening” expected within the coming days.
Lee exploded to a Category 5 storm within 24 hours last week before slowing down and reorganizing over the weekend. Just behind Lee is Tropical Storm Margot, which is predicted to reach hurricane status by Monday afternoon.
Hurricane Lee is moving well north of Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands and the northern Leeward Islands, though it still remains too early to determine whether the northeastern US coast and Canada could see any impacts, according to advisories from the National Hurricane Center on Sunday.
Life-threatening surf and rip conditions are expected along the East Coast, while dangerous swells generated by the storm are spreading to the Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico, Hispaniola, the Turks and Caicos Islands, the Bahamas, and Bermuda.
Lee’s historic intensification from an 80 mph Category 1 to a Category 5 with 160 mph winds last week makes it one the fastest-intensifying Atlantic storms on record. Warm waters are a potent fuel for hurricanes to gain strength, a phenomenon expected to accelerate amid a growing climate crisis.
East Coast likely to avoid Lee landfall, but hazardous beach conditions are incoming
It appears that Hurricane Lee will likely avoid making any landfall in the US, but life-threatening rip currents and dangerous beaches conditions along the East Coast are expected over the next couple of days.
“Dangerous surf and rip currents are expected to begin along much of the US East Coast later today and worsen through this week,” according to the National Hurricane Center.
Beach erosion and some coastal flooding is also possible, the center reported.
The Category 3 storm is predicted to continue gaining strength as it moves north this week.
Atlantic will see two simultaneous hurricanes this week, forecasters predict
Hurricane Lee is expected to continue to gain strength as it cruises across the Atlantic Ocean, and just behind it is Tropical Storm Margot, which forecasters predict will reach hurricane strength on 11 September.
It’s unclear what path they will take in the coming days, and whether they will pose a threat to the East Coast.
But they could get close enough for a phenomenon called the Fujiwhara effect, in which two storms rotate around each other and spin in the same direction. The National Weather Service describes it as “an intense dance around their common center.”
The phenomenon occured with hurricanes Hilary and Irwin in the East Pacific in 2017.
Tropical Storm Margot is growing ‘stronger’ and ‘better organized’ and predicted to turn into a hurricane on Monday
Just behind Hurricane Lee is Tropical Storm Margot, which has grown “stronger” and “better organized” over the weekend, according to the National Hurricane Center.
Margot is expected to continue moving north in the next few days and potentially intensify into a hurricane on Monday.
Maximum sustained winds have increased to near 65 mph with higher gusts. Tropical storm-force winds extend outward up to 80 miles from the storm’s center, according to the advisory.
A forecast model from the National Hurricane Center predicts Tropical Storm Margot will intensify into a hurricane on 11 September.
Latest Lee update: Hurricane ‘restrengthening’ as Category 3 storm
As predicted, Hurricane Lee has intensified into a Category 3 storm after slowing down overnight and into Sunday.
Lee is expected to take a slow west-northwestward track in the coming days, passing well north of the northern Leeward Islands, the Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico during the next day or two, according to a Sunday afternoon advisory from the National Hurricane Center.
The storm has returned to Category 3 strength and “additional strengthening” is forcast within the next day or so, the NHC is reporting.
There are no coastal watches or warnings in effect, and it remains unclear whether the storm will reach the northeastern US coast and Canada or continue spinning into the Atlantic on that western track. It still remains too early to tell, according to forecasters.
Watch: Atlantic storm activity at the ‘peak’ of hurricane season
Take a look at the Atlantic activity with Hurricane Lee, Tropical Storm Margot and two disturbances behind them with a chance of developing into storms in the coming days
The storms and storms-to-be are taking shape during the “peak” of the Atlantic hurricane season.
NOAA forecasts 12 to 17 total named storms this year, with five to nine of those storms turning into hurricanes, including up to four major hurricanes with winds of 111 mph or higher.
Hurricane Lee is a Category 2 storm, but it’s still unclear where it’s headed
Hurricane Lee was downgraded to a Category 2 on Sunday, slowing down as it rears northwest along the eastern seaboard.
It’s expected to strengthen in the coming days, but Lee is not projected to strike land, and there are no coastal watches or warnings in effect, for now.
“It remains too soon to know what level of impacts, if any, Lee might have along the US East Coast, Atlantic Canada or Bermuda late next week, especially since the hurricane is expected to slow down considerably over the southwestern Atlantic,” according to the National Hurricane Center.
Dangerous surf conditions are expected along parts of the East Coast and around the northern Leeward Islands, Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico as well as Hispaniola, the Turks and Caicos Islands, the Bahamas, and Bermuda.
But the storm, roughly 270 miles northeast of the northern Leeward Islands, is expected to steer away from Caribbean islands as it makes its northern turn.
Why Hurricane Lee has shattered ‘rapid intensification’ standards
Hurricane Lee’s acceleration from an 80 mph Cat 1 to a Cat 5 with 160 mph winds within 24 hours has surpassed the standards meteorologists typically associate with “rapid intensification,” or when winds increase by 35 mph within that same time period.
It not only makes Lee the one of the fastest-intensifying Atlantic storms on record, it has set a new threshold that scientists see as a potential harbinger for what’s to come as the climate crisis accelerates.
“This one increased by 80 mph,” Marshall Shepherd, director of the University of Georgia’s Atmospheric Sciences Program and a past president of the American Meteorological Society told the Associated Press. “I can’t emphasize this enough – we used to have this metric of 35 mph, and here’s a storm that did twice that amount and we’re seeing that happen more frequently.”
September 10 is ‘peak’ hurricane season, as more Atlantic storms are brewing
Today is the “peak” date for the Atlantic hurricane season, and it couldn’t come at a more-active time, with Hurricane Lee likely gaining strength as Tropical Storm Margot and two brewing storms pop up behind it.
“September 10 is basically when you still have low vertical wind shear, plenty of moisture and increasing sea surface temperatures,” Colorado State meteorologist Philip Klotzbach told AccuWeather. “The increasing vertical wind shear tends to dominate over the continued warming sea surface temperatures as you move later in September.”
While the climate crisis and warming waters have indicated that hurricane seasons are trending longer than the official six-month window typically observed, that “peak” date is likely to remain.
“While Atlantic sea surface temperatures typically continue to warm until late September/early October, vertical wind shear starts to increase relatively quickly in late September, knocking down storm activity,” Mr Klotzbach added.
A composite image from NOAA shows Hurricane Lee churning towards the Caribbean after intensifying into a major storm on 8 September.
Latest Lee update: Storm to pass ‘well north’ of Leeward Islands, Virgin Island and Puerto Rico
Hurricane Lee, now a Category 2 storm, is expected to spin outwards as it approaches the eastern seaboard, and the storm is moving “well north” of the northern Leeward Island, Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico in the coming days, according to an 11am ET update from the National Hurricane Center.
Still, it remains too early to tell what impacts, if any, will be felt along the US East Coast and Canada, “especially as the hurricane is expected to slow down considerably” as it moves over the southwestern Atlantic, according to the advisory.
Data from a NOAA Hurricane Hunter aircraft indicate that maximum sustained winds have increased to nearly 110 mph with higher gusts, and “some strengthening is forecast during the next couple of days.”
Dangerous waves are expected along the East Coast throughout the weekend, with potentially life-threatening rip currents and dangerous surf hitting northern Leeward Island, Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico as well as Hispaniola, the Turks and Caicos Islands, the Bahamas, and Bermuda.
Latest Lee update: Storm is ‘slowing down’ and likely regaining strength as it steers north
After it was downgraded from a Category 3 storm, Hurricane Lee is predicted to regain strength as it travels along warm Atlantic waters in the coming days.
Lee is “slowing down” as it moves well north of Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands and the northern Leeward Islands, though it still remains too early to determine its course and whether the northeastern US coast and Canada could see any impacts, according to an advisory from the National Hurricane Center on 10 September.
But life-threatening surf and rip conditions are expected along the East Coast, while dangerous swells generated by the storm are spreading to the Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico, Hispaniola, the Turks and Caicos Islands, the Bahamas, and Bermuda.