Hurricane Lee’s path and timeline: Meteorologists project when and where the storm will hit

Hurricane Lee strengthened quickly Thursday and developed into a serious Class 5 storm, the Nationwide Hurricane Middle stated. 

Lee intensified rapidly over the Atlantic Ocean’s very heat waters, rising from a tropical storm right into a Class 1 hurricane on Wednesday and all the best way to a Class 5 hurricane Thursday evening, with most sustained winds of 160 mph.

Lee was forecast to proceed intensifying by means of Friday, and regardless of attainable fluctuations in depth, it was forecast to “stay a serious hurricane by means of early subsequent week,” the middle stated.

“Whilst we head into Saturday, Sunday, Monday and Tuesday it does weaken, that is excellent news because it heads in direction of the U.S.,” CBS Information senior climate and local weather producer David Parkinson stated Thursday night.

The place is Hurricane Lee heading?

Massive ocean swells generated by Lee are anticipated to achieve the Lesser Antilles by Friday, and the U.S. and British Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico, the Bahamas, Bermuda, the Turks and Caicos Islands and Hispaniola by the weekend, the hurricane middle stated.

As of 5 a.m. EDT on Friday, Lee had most sustained winds of 165 mph. Its middle was about 630 miles east of the northern Leeward Islands and it was touring west-northest at 14 mph over the Atlantic.   

The Leewards are a bunch of islands the place the Caribbean Sea meets the western Atlantic Ocean.  

Massive ocean swells generated by Lee are anticipated to achieve the Lesser Antilles by Friday, and the U.S. and British Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico, the Bahamas, Bermuda, the Turks and Caicos Islands and Hispaniola by the weekend, the hurricane middle stated.

“These swells are prone to trigger life-threatening surf and rip present situations,” the company reported. 

Nonetheless, Lee’s middle is forecast to go “nicely to the north” of these islands, the company added.   

There aren’t any coastal warnings or watches in impact right now, the hurricane middle stated.

The place will Hurricane Lee make landfall? 

Proper now, it is too early to say whether or not Hurricane Lee will make landfall, forecasters stated. 

Parkinson laid out a couple of attainable situations for Lee. One would contain a chilly entrance coming off the East Coast that would entice Lee and push it north in opposition to the shoreline, bringing probably stormy climate to areas alongside the coast.

Nonetheless, if no chilly entrance had been to type, Parkinson defined that Lee would then probably keep out at sea for an extended interval till it had been to achieve Newfoundland and Labrador in Canada. By that time, it might have considerably weakened.

Is Hurricane Lee going to hit Florida?

Hurricane Lee shouldn’t be at present forecast to impression Florida, CBS Miami reported. CBS Miami chief meteorologist and hurricane specialist Ivan Cabrera Lee stated the storm system is predicted to show to the north and away from the southeastern U.S. coast, however climate consultants will proceed to watch its progress and monitor it intently.

Florida is recovering from Hurricane Idalia, which made landfall alongside the Gulf Coast final Wednesday and left a path of injury throughout the Large Bend area — the realm the place the Florida peninsula meets the panhandle. The storm brought about extreme flooding in Florida and different states together with Georgia, South Carolina and North Carolina, earlier than transferring out to sea. A number of deaths have been attributed to the storm, and the monetary toll of the hurricane may attain $20 billion, CBS Information beforehand reported.

Hurricane Lee spaghetti fashions

Spaghetti climate fashions, or spaghetti plots, are pc fashions exhibiting the attainable paths a storm might take because it develops. These fashions do not predict the impression or when a storm might hit, in accordance with the Climate Channel, however deal with exhibiting which areas would possibly probably be in danger. 

Spaghetti fashions for Hurricane Lee largely present the storm touring over the ocean. Some paths would take the storm near the Leeward Islands, which embody the Virgin Islands, Anguilla, Saint Martin and Saint Kitts. 

A spaghetti mannequin for Lee created Wednesday morning, seen under, reveals most projected paths curving northward and remaining out over the open Atlantic, however a couple of veer extra to the west for a possible impression within the islands or alongside the U.S. Mid-Atlantic or New England coast late subsequent week.

One other set was posted by The Climate Channel’s Jim Cantore, who wrote: “Some options into late subsequent week (proven under) are too near ignore. Some do not contact land. That is all widespread with one thing within the 7-10 day away vary.”