Hurricane Lee has returned to a major Category 3 hurricane and is expected to gain some strength this week in the Atlantic Ocean while the National Hurricane Center monitors Tropical Storm Margot and two other systems with a chance to develop.
As of 11 a.m. Monday, Lee was located about 365 miles north of the northern Leeward Islands in the Caribbean and 615 miles south of Bermuda and moving northwest at 8 mph with maximum sustained winds of 120 mph and higher gusts. Hurricane-force winds extend up to 75 miles and tropical storm-force winds extend up to 185 miles.
“A slow movement from west-northwest to northwest is expected over the next two days, followed by a turn north by midweek,” the meteorologists said. “On the expected course, Lee is expected to pass near Bermuda, but to the west, in a few days.”
Bermuda lies within the cone of uncertainty but is not yet subject to any monitoring or warnings. However, Lee’s ocean waves are expected to threaten conditions along the US coast including Florida today after they have already seeped through the Atlantic Ocean to batter parts of the Lesser Antilles, the Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico, Hispaniola, Turks and Caicos, the Bahamas and Bermuda.
“These waves are likely to cause life-threatening waves and disrupt current conditions,” the meteorologists said. “Dangerous waves and rip currents have begun
These conditions affect portions of the southeast coast of the United States, and these conditions are expected to spread north along the east coast of the United States over the next two days.
tornado #for me He was revived back to Class 3 power with a renewed eye. Lee is currently creeping west-northwest, and is still expected to turn north and stay offshore the east coast of the United States, but dangerous rip currents and rip currents are expected as Lee heads north and grows in size. pic.twitter.com/m7wshllWBA
– UW-Madison CIMSS (@UWCIMSS) September 10, 2023
The forecast of intensity has grown the system to a Category 4 status with sustained winds of 130 mph and gusts of up to 160 mph later Monday and remains a major hurricane through Wednesday. Last week the erratic storm grew in less than half a day from a Category 1 hurricane with 80 mph winds to a Category 5 with 160 mph sustained winds reaching 165 mph after 12 hours before dropping back down to Category 2 and now growing again. .
Its path could lead to Hurricane Lee’s wind field affecting Bermuda, followed by an uncertain path that could threaten the northeastern states of the United States or Canada.
“It’s still too early to tell what level of impacts, if any, Lee might have along the east coast of the US and Atlantic Canada late this week, especially as the hurricane is expected to slow significantly over the southwestern Atlantic,” the forecasters said. .
Meanwhile, Tropical Storm Margot is moving north over the open subtropical Atlantic Ocean.
At 11 a.m., the center of Margot was located about 1,245 miles northwest of the Cape Verde Islands and moving north at 10 mph with sustained winds of maximum 70 mph. Its tropical storm force winds extend 105 miles.
“This general movement is expected to continue over the next few days,” said meteorologists. “Margot is expected to become a hurricane late today and…
“It could strengthen further over the next few days.”
This will make Hurricane Margot the fifth hurricane of the 2023 Atlantic hurricane season after Don, Franklin, Idalia, and Lee.
Elsewhere in the Atlantic, the National Hurricane Center has been tracking two systems that have a chance to form in this season’s next depression or tropical storm. If either of them reaches named storm status, they could become Tropical Storm Nigel followed by Tropical Storm Ophelia next.
The most likely occurrence between the two this week is a tropical wave in the far eastern tropical Atlantic that moved off the coast of West Africa on Sunday bringing some unorganized rain and thunderstorms.
“The environmental conditions seem favorable for the gradual development of this system during the last part of the week, and it is possible that it will be a tropical depression
Meteorologists said the winds formed by the end of the week as it moved west-northwest at 15 to 20 mph over the tropical mid-Atlantic.
The NHC gives it a 60% chance of developing in the next seven days.
A closer system, but with fewer chances, is in the eastern tropical Atlantic several hundred miles west-southwest of the Cape Verde Islands with limited, disorganized rainfall and thunderstorm activity.
“Further development of this system is becoming increasingly unlikely before it merges with a tropical wave to its east over the next two days,” meteorologists said.
The NHC gives it a 10% chance of forming within the next two to seven days.
The 2023 season runs from June 1 to November. 30 has already produced 13 named storms.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s most recent hurricane forecast updated in August increased its outlook for an above-average season predicting 14-21 named storms, of which 6-11 could become hurricanes and 2-5 could become major hurricanes.