Lee spreads strong winds and rain in New England

Lee is now a post-tropical cyclone but remains a powerful storm and is spreading tropical storm conditions and coastal flooding into coastal New England and Atlantic Canada.

Lee’s center will wash ashore in Nova Scotia around midday Saturday. Hurricane conditions are possible across parts of Nova Scotia and southern New Brunswick later Saturday.

Here’s the latest information on Lee. Lee is located just over 160 miles southeast of Eastport, Maine and is rapidly moving north at 25 mph.

Sustained winds of 47 mph and gusts of up to 55 mph were measured recently in Nantucket, Massachusetts and a gust of up to 63 mph was reported at Woods Hole. In Canada, a wind gust of 77 mph was measured on Grand Manan Island.

Minor flooding was observed on Easy Street in Nantucket Harbor early Saturday.

Hurricane force winds extend outward up to 140 miles from the center and tropical storm force winds extend outward up to 390 miles, making it a very large storm.

(Map tracker: Satellite, warnings and more)

Here are Lee’s latest watches and warnings: A tropical storm warning has been issued from Westport, Massachusetts, north to the Canadian border, including Cape Cod, Martha’s Vineyard, and Nantucket.

In Canada, a tropical storm warning is in effect for large parts of New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, including Halifax. These warnings mean that a tropical storm is expected to occur in parts of the warning areas within 36 hours.

Tropical Storm Watches have been issued for the rest of Nova Scotia, most of New Brunswick, and all of Prince Edward Island.

A hurricane watch is also in effect for parts of New Brunswick and Nova Scotia in Canada.

Here’s where you’ll track me down: Lee will continue to move north through the waters off the northeastern coast of the United States before moving into Atlantic Canada on Saturday.

Most of Lee’s rain will fall north and west of the hurricane’s center, which means it will arrive before the center below.

Although Hurricane Lee is weak, its wind field is very large, meaning the impacts will extend far beyond the expected path shown below.

(more: 12 things you may not know about hurricane forecasts)

Here’s a look at the potential impacts in New England: Rainy winds The effects of coastal flooding will continue until Saturday in some areas.

Here’s a look at what to expect.

Wind threat

There is a possibility that Lee’s winds combined with saturated soil could bring down trees and knock out power in some areas, especially in far eastern New England and adjacent parts of Canada.

(More: Lee Interactive Tracker)

Thunderstorm threat

Coastal flooding and large surging waves are also likely to have impacts from coastal Massachusetts to Maine.

A storm surge of up to 3 feet is possible along the east coast of New England.

Possibility of rainfall flooding

It could produce rainfall amounts of up to 4 inches in far eastern New England.

Heavy rain is possible over parts of Nova Scotia and New Brunswick.

(more: Will Lee add to an already flood-weary New England?)

Dangerous waves and rip currents persist along most of the East Coast: Lee’s swells have affected much of the East Coast in the past two days. These waves produce high waves and dangerous rip currents in some areas.

Stay out of the water, especially if red flags are flying at the beach.

Date me so far

Lee became the thirteenth storm of the 2023 Atlantic hurricane season last Tuesday afternoon, and the fourth hurricane of the season last Wednesday afternoon. 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.

Lee then underwent rapid, explosive densification, going from Category 1 to Category 5 in just 18 hours last Thursday. 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.

The hurricane survey recorded sustained winds of 160 mph last Thursday evening, making it the first Category 5 hurricane since Ian in 2022. Before Hurricane Lee, only 39 other Atlantic hurricanes had reached Category 5 intensity over the past 100 years. .

Lee quickly weakened to Category 2 on Saturday due to increased wind shear. It then gained strength again late Sunday and returned to Category 3 intensity.

The tornado was tracked near NOAA buoy 41048 on Thursday which noted 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 Saturday morning. This means that it no longer has tropical characteristics but is still a powerful storm.

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