Lee brought gusty winds, rain, and large waves to eastern Canada and parts of New England

Lee became the 13th storm of the 2023 Atlantic hurricane season on September 7 and the fourth hurricane of the season the next day. That was more than a week before the average intensity of the fourth hurricane on September 16, according to data from the National Hurricane Center.

I’m back in Africa at the beginning of September. It was a classic Hurricane Cape Verde It took about two weeks to get to Canada.

Lee then underwent extremely rapid condensation, going from Category 1 to Category 5 in just 18 hours on September 7. Only three other hurricanes have been in the Atlantic since 1982 Its winds have increased by 80 mph in 24 hours or less since 1982, most recently from Matthew in 2016. This was the fastest 24-hour intensification anywhere in the Atlantic Basin outside the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea in 41 years, according to Kieran . Bhatia, a scientist at Princeton University.

Sustained winds of 160 mph were recorded by a hurricane survey on the evening of September 7, making it the first Category 5 hurricane since Ian in 2022. Before Lee, only 39 other Atlantic hurricanes had reached Category 5 intensity over the past 100 years. last year.

Lee quickly weakened to Category 2 on September 9 due to increased wind shear. It then gained strength again late the next day and returned to Category 3 intensity.

Wells rose along the entire eastern seaboard of the United States as Lee moved north. Minor coastal erosion and increased wave activity were seen from Florida to Maine. Here’s a look at the waves along the North Carolina coast.

Lee passed 200 miles west of Bermuda on September 14 as a Category 1 hurricane with winds of 85 mph. The hurricane was tracked near NOAA buoy 41048, located west-southwest of Bermuda, and was observed with wind gusts up to 92 mph and surf heights more than 30 feet. Bermuda recorded winds exceeding 50 mph.

Hurricane Lee continued to track northward and completed its transition to a post-tropical cyclone on the morning of September 16 near Canada.

Post-Tropical Hurricane Lee made landfall at 4 pm on Long Island in far western Nova Scotia with winds of about 70 mph.

United State. Effects

Waves began to increase on September 15 on Long Island and southern New England, reaching their highest levels early the next morning. Storm surge was recorded at about 2 feet in Boston Harbor and 2.5 feet on Cape Cod and on Nantucket. Minor flooding was observed on Easy Street in Nantucket Harbor.

Wind gusts of up to 63 mph were reported during the morning hours of September 16 in Woods Hole, Massachusetts and in Knox, Maine. A wind gust of 56 mph was measured in Bangor, Maine during the afternoon hours.

The storm was so large that it caused power outages hundreds of miles from its center. At midday on September 16, 11% of Maine’s electricity customers lacked power, along with 27% in Nova Scotia, 8% in New Brunswick, and 3% in Prince Edward Island, according to the Associated Press.

Waves moved along the coast of Maine on September 16th as Lee moved eastward. A storm surge of about 2 feet was recorded from Portsmouth, New Hampshire north to Bar Harbor, Maine.

Heavy rain fell on eastern Massachusetts, then drenched eastern Maine. Rain gauges in Washington and Hancock counties received 3-6 inches of rain.

Canadian influences

High waves and some minor coastal flooding occurred at Peggy’s Cove, near Halifax, Canada, early on September 16 as Lee approached.

Wind gusts of up to 60 mph were reported in Halifax, Nova Scotia, on the afternoon of September 16. Sustained winds of 51 mph were reported with gusts of up to 93 mph on Grand Manan Island.

As Lee skirted Yarmouth, Canada, to the west, it was close enough to break the low pressure record for September.

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