Hurricane Lee still Cat 3 as NHC tracks Hurricane Margot, 1 other system

Hurricane Lee remained a major Category 3 storm with a path that could hit New England or Canada this weekend while the National Hurricane Center continued to track Hurricane Margot and one other system with a high chance of becoming the next tropical depression or storm.

As of 5 a.m. Hurricane Lee had 115 mph sustained winds and higher gusts located about 575 miles south of Bermuda moving west-northwest at 7 mph. Its hurricane-force winds extend out 80 miles and its tropical-storm-force winds extend out 185 miles.

“A slow west-northwest to northwest motion is expected during the next day or two, followed by a turn toward the north by midweek,” forecasters said. “On the forecast track, Lee is expected to pass near but to the west of Bermuda in a few days.”

A hurricane watch for Bermuda could come later today.

“While the core of the hurricane is forecast to pass west of Bermuda, the large wind field of the storm is likely to bring wind impacts to the island later this week,” forecasters said.

Its five-day cone of uncertainty has it diminishing in strength through the weekend, but with a potential landfall that includes Cape Cod in Massachusetts, Maine, Nova Scotia and New Brunswick. But at that point, the storm is predicted to be shifting into an extratropical storm with 70 mph winds.

“Despite the weakening that is forecast, keep in mind that the expanding wind field of Lee will produce impacts well away from the storm center,” forecasters said.

In addition, its swells have been hitting Florida and other parts of the U.S. East Coast as well as portions of the Lesser Antilles, the British and U.S. Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico, Hispaniola, Turks and Caicos, Bahamas and Bermuda.

“These swells are likely to cause life-threatening surf and rip current conditions. Dangerous surf and rip currents are affecting portions of the southeastern U.S. coast, and these conditions are forecast to spread northward along much of the U.S. East Coast during the next couple of days,” according to the NHC advisory.

Hurricane Lee has generated more than four days of activity rated as a major hurricane. It formed as a Category 1 hurricane Wednesday evening. It then shot up to Category 5 by Thursday evening and reached a peak strength of 165 mph sustained winds on Friday morning.

While it had been projected to grow even further, conditions caused the system to dial back, but aside from an 18-hour run on Saturday into Sunday, the system has remained Category 3 with at least 115 mph sustained winds.

It’s the third major hurricane of the season following Franklin and Idalia, which struck Florida’s Gulf Coast on Aug. 30.

Meanwhile, newly formed Hurricane Margot, the fifth hurricane overall this year, continues to grow in the eastern Atlantic.

At 5 a.m. Hurricane Margo had 85 mph sustained winds keeping it a Category 1 hurricane. It was located about 935 miles southwest of the Azores moving north at 13 mph.

“A northward to north-northwestward motion with a decrease in forward speed is expected during the next few days,” forecasters said. “Additional strengthening is forecast during the next day or so. Weakening is likely to begin by Thursday.”

Its hurricane-force winds extend out 25 miles and tropical-storm-force winds extend out 140 miles.

The NHC is also tracking a tropical wave that moved off the coast of Africa this week that has grown into a broad area of low pressure with disorganized showers and thunderstorms. It’s now approaching the central tropical Atlantic well southwest of the Cape Verde Islands.

“This system is expected to consolidate with a low on the western side becoming dominant over the next day or two,” forecasters said. “Gradual development of the low is expected after that and a tropical depression is likely to form by this weekend while the system moves west-northwestward or
northwestward at about 15 mph across the central tropical Atlantic.”

The NHC gives it a 20% chance to form in the next two days and 70% in the next seven.

If it grows into named-storm strength, it could become Tropical Storm Nigel, the 14th named storm of the 2023 Atlantic hurricane season that runs through Nov. 30.