New York City and Boston are bracing for the landfall of Category 5 Hurricane Lee, but the East Coast is already seeing severe thunderstorms that are set to continue through the weekend.
The area has been plagued by high temperatures and high humidity in recent weeks, but both major metros are expected to be flooded on Friday evening.
The air front has caused travel havoc in the skies as more than 200 flights have already been canceled from JFK, Newark and LaGuardia airports, according to FlightAware.
As the thunderstorms began, residents took to social media to share pictures of the ominous clouds filling the New York sky, in a sign of what to expect.
Hurricane Lee is heading towards the East Coast and is expected to make landfall next week, after severe weather began hitting the area Friday evening.
Joanna Aultman-Smith, from New York, shared a photo of mammatus clouds on Big Apple Friday — and called the sky formation “scary.”
The storms followed soaring temperatures across the East Coast, with temperatures topping 90 degrees for three consecutive days for the first time all year in New York City on Friday.
Summers in the Big Apple were grayer and cooler than usual, with the city frequently blanketed in smoke and haze from Canadian wildfires.
A heat advisory remains in effect for New York City and parts of New Jersey, where a heavy front resembles a tropical storm.
Officials are bracing for the damage, as high winds, torrential rain and potential hail can cause flash flooding and structural damage in some areas.
Reports indicate downed trees and power lines in New Jersey, and a severe thunderstorm warning has been issued for nearly the entire tri-state region until 11 p.m. Friday.
A flash flood warning was also issued for large swathes of the Hudson Valley after a period of dry and hot conditions.
Much of Massachusetts also remains under a severe thunderstorm watch, covering Middlesex, Essex, Franklin, Hampden and Hampshire counties.
And in Hobseck Falls, New York, the city’s mayor urged residents to stay home after a powerful thunderstorm battered the community of 3,000 on Thursday.
Downed trees and power lines were also reported in the area, as crews worked all day to clear roads that were blocked by debris.
Storm damage was also seen in Boxboro, Massachusetts – about 40 miles from Boston – where high winds knocked down many power lines and tree limbs.
Storm damage was also seen in Boxboro, Massachusetts, where strong winds tore off many tree branches.
Crews worked all day Friday to clear roads after the storm hit, which also damaged power lines
Another picture of the chaos caused by Friday’s severe weather in Massachusetts
Storms on Friday are expected to be the start of several air bombs hitting the region until Monday, while heavy rains are expected to continue throughout the week with temperatures dropping.
The severe weather comes amid growing concerns about Typhoon Lee, which was registered as a category one hurricane on Thursday, before strengthening to a category five overnight.
Lee was catching steam as it headed for the coast, with winds over 130 miles an hour.
It is expected to make landfall late next week, but meteorologists have struggled to determine the exact path of Hurricane Lee, leading to varying estimates of the extent of damage it could cause on the East Coast.
The storm accelerated rapidly from late Wednesday over the Atlantic Ocean, and as of late Thursday the National Hurricane Center recorded waves of up to 55 feet near its center.
According to meteorologist and hurricane expert Michael Lowry, Lee belongs in the elite category as less than one percent of all tropical cyclones ever reach Category 5 status.
he He said on X (formerly Twitter) that “Lee is the furthest southeast we’ve ever seen a Category 5 hurricane in the Atlantic since records began 172 years ago.”
Hurricane Lee strengthened from a category one to category five overnight Thursday, leading to fears it could tear through the east coast.
Meteorologists have struggled to determine the exact path of Hurricane Lee, which has led to varying estimates of the extent of the damage it could cause.
The hurricane slammed into open waters in the Atlantic Ocean on Thursday, sweeping through the northeastern Caribbean and missing Puerto Rico as it moved toward the United States.
Models of Hurricane Lee’s likely path show it has the potential to produce a deadly storm surge and heavy rains for cities including Boston and New York City.
“Lee continues to strengthen at an exceptional rate,” the National Hurricane Center warned Thursday.
And it wasn’t raining all around, as Reagan National Airport in Washington, D.C., enjoyed hot weather on Friday night
Spaghetti models of Hurricane Lee’s track — maps that show a computer simulation of where the storm’s center could be in a number of days, given a range of variables — show Lee turning northeast and heading toward the east coast.
Lee recorded winds of up to 180 mph as it twisted over the ocean, but is expected to weaken to about 130 mph if it makes landfall.
The National Hurricane Center said Friday that the storm was “incredibly powerful,” building up far beyond the strength it initially appeared to have.
The storm may have fueled Friday’s thunderstorms, as the National Hurricane Center said “most of the East Coast of the United States” would experience very dangerous currents by Sunday.
