Hurricane Lee was barreling toward eastern New England and Canada’s Atlantic coast Thursday and was expected to make landfall over the weekend, forecasters said. The Category 1 storm, which grew at one point to Category 5 strength, was expected to “remain a large and dangerous cyclone” as it continued on a trajectory north, according to the National Hurricane Center.
Lee has prompted a hurricane watch to be issued in Maine for the first time since 2008, CBS News senior weather and climate producer David Parkinson reported. The hurricane center said Thursday that hurricane conditions were possible in Down East Maine on Saturday.
In Massachusetts, the hurricane center warned “life-threatening” storm surge was possible for the island of Nantucket and along Cape Cod Bay.
Stephanie Abrams, a meteorologist with The Weather Channel, said on “CBS Mornings” on Thursday that the storm was expected to make landfall between Saturday and Sunday. Lee was expected to dump rain on already saturated ground, which could lead to flash flooding.
“This storm will be affecting more than just the coast,” Abrams said. “… The winds will ramp up on Friday, crank through the day on Saturday and then slowly start to taper off as we head into our Sunday.”
What category is Hurricane Lee?
As of 11 a.m. EDT on Thursday, Lee was a Category 1 storm with maximum sustained winds of 90 mph, according to the hurricane center.
Hurricane-force winds were extending up to 90 miles from the center of Lee and tropical-storm-force winds were extending up to 310 miles from the center. A buoy located about 130 miles northwest of Lee’s center measured a sustained wind of 54 mph that lasted for one minute.
Hurricanes are rated in categories from 1 to 5 based on the speed of its maximum sustained winds. Although Category 1 storms are considered the lowest rating, the hurricane center says they’re “very dangerous” and could damage homes and power lines, causing outages that could go on for days.
Where is Hurricane Lee?
The center of the storm was about 245 miles west-southwest of Bermuda and about 750 miles south of Nantucket, Massachusetts, according to the hurricane center. Lee was moving north at 14 mph.
Ahead of the storm, a hurricane watch was in effect from Stonington, Maine, to the U.S.-Canada border and parts of eastern Canada. The watch means hurricane conditions are possible for the area.
A tropical storm warning was issued for the coast of Massachusetts from Woods Hole to Hull, including Cape Cod, Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket, the hurricane center said. The warning means tropical storm conditions are expected in the area within 36 hours.
Meanwhile, a tropical storm watch was in effect from Watch Hill, Rhode Island, to Woods Hole, Massachusetts; for Rhode Island’s Block Island; north of Hull, Massachusetts, to Stonington, Maine; and parts of eastern Canada. The watch means tropical storm conditions were possible within the area within 48 hours.
