Hurricane Lee gains strength and reaches category 5 with winds that could reach maximums of 257 kilometers per hour when proaching from the Atlantic east of the Caribbeanreported the US National Hurricane Center (NHC).
According to the latest NHC report, as of Friday morning, Lee was 1,013 kilometers east of the northern Leeward Islands. With that course, The cyclone could make landfall anywhere, the report warned.
Lee could register its maximum intensity, with strong waves and currents, during the weekend and move to the southwest of the Atlantic already on Monday or Tuesday, when it will be confirmed if it will finally touch the US mainland.
In its latest update, the NHC said the hurricane is expected to pass “far north” of the Leeward Islands, the Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico over the weekend and early next week.
Lee formed this Tuesday in the center of the Atlantic, became a category 1 hurricane this Wednesday and this Thursday it rose to category 2 and hours later to 5, the maximum on the Saffir-Simpson intensity scale.
This powerful hurricane will generate in its path “big swells” and “dangerous undertows”, according to the NHC. So far, no coastal watches or advisories have been issued, but the Lesser Antilles remain vigilant about Lee’s development.
NHC meteorologists, based in Miami, warned that dangerous waves generated by the hurricane will reach the British and US Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico, the Bahamas, Hispaniola and Bermuda this weekend.
While Hurricane Lee is not currently expected to make landfall anywhere, the storm surge generated by the storm is expected to reach parts of the Caribbeanincluding the British Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico and the Turks and Caicos Islands, this Friday.
“These surges are likely to cause life-threatening waves“adds the update.
It is expected that Similar conditions begin Sunday on the US East Coast.The NHC said on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, that it is “too early to know what level of impact” the hurricane will have on US Atlantic Canada or Bermuda yet.
Margot
Meanwhile, Tropical Depression 14 became Tropical Storm Margot on Thursday.
Margot is expected to reach hurricane strength over the weekend, although It is expected to remain over open water.
In an update released on August 10, the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) predicted a hurricane season in the Atlantic “above normal”, with the formation of between 14 and 21 tropical storms, of which between 6 and 11 would be hurricanes.
With information from EFE and BBC News
Source: Clarin
