Hurricane Lee update: Hurricane ‘restrengthening’ but path remains unclear as Margot nears hurricane status

The centre of Hurricane Lee is growing in size, the National Hurricane Center has said in its latest advisory, after the storm once again intensified to Category 3 from Category 2 on Sunday night.

Lee has hurricane-force winds extending outward up to 75 miles (120 kilometres) from the centre and tropical storm-force winds extending outward up to 175 miles (280 kilometres).

The NHC also said that dangerous surf and rip currents were expected to hit most of the US East Coast starting on Sunday night and Monday morning, but that the hurricane’s impact beyond that was still unclear.

“It is way too soon to know what level of impacts, if any, Lee might have along the US East Coast, Atlantic Canada, or Bermuda, especially since the hurricane is expected to slow down considerably over the southwestern Atlantic.” the centre said.

Hurricane Lee barrelled over open waters late night just northeast of the Caribbean, unleashing heavy swell on several islands as it regained some strength and expanded in size.

Lee has again intensified to a Category 3 storm after reducing to Category 2 earlier on Saturday, but it is not forecast to make landfall and it is staying over open waters. However, its bands brought heavy rains and hazardous beach conditions.

The impacted regions include the Lesser Antilles, the British and US Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico, Hispaniola, the Turks and Caicos Islands, the Bahamas and Bermuda.

Late Sunday, it was centred about 310miles (500kilometres) north of the northern Leeward Islands. Its maximum sustained winds were clocked at 120mph (195kph) and it was moving northwest at 8mph (13kph).

“We had the perfection conditions for a hurricane: warm waters and hardly any wind shear,” said Lee Ingles, a forecaster with the National Weather Service in San Juan.

Hurricane Lee is in rare company. Only two recorded storms – Hurricane Wilma in 2005 and Hurricane Felix in 2007 – strengthened faster than Lee over a 24-hour period, as Lee developed from a Cat 1 to a Cat 5 last week before degrading into its current Cat 3 status.

The storm is predicted to continue to regain strength after slowing down over the weekend.

Brian McNoldy with the University of Miami told NBC News that the warm conditions in the Atlantic were ripe for the storm’s rapid intensification last week.

The “vertical wind shear was very low and the water temperature under it was very warm,” he said, adding that Lee “took full advantage of both.”

Last year, Hurricane Ian rapidly intensified over two separate periods before striking Florida. Hurricane Idalia recently strengthened from a Cat 1 to a Cat 4 within 24 hours.

“It’s a huge problem, and the past is not a good guide to what we should expect going forward,” Jeff Masters, a former hurricane scientist with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, told NBC.

Lee made history last week after it rapidly intensified from a Category 1 to a Category 5 within 24 hours.

The hurricane could enter another period of rapid intensification this week after slowing down over the weekend.

It appears that Hurricane Lee will likely avoid making any landfall in the US, but life-threatening rip currents and dangerous beaches conditions along the East Coast are expected over the next couple of days.

“Dangerous surf and rip currents are expected to begin along much of the US East Coast later today and worsen through this week,” according to the National Hurricane Center.

Beach erosion and some coastal flooding is also possible, the center reported.

The Category 3 storm is predicted to continue gaining strength as it moves north this week.

Hurricane Lee is expected to continue to gain strength as it cruises across the Atlantic Ocean, and just behind it is Tropical Storm Margot, which forecasters predict will reach hurricane strength on 11 September.

It’s unclear what path they will take in the coming days, and whether they will pose a threat to the East Coast.

But they could get close enough for a phenomenon called the Fujiwhara effect, in which two storms rotate around each other and spin in the same direction. The National Weather Service describes it as “an intense dance around their common center.”

The phenomenon occured with hurricanes Hilary and Irwin in the East Pacific in 2017.

Just behind Hurricane Lee is Tropical Storm Margot, which has grown “stronger” and “better organized” over the weekend, according to the National Hurricane Center.

Margot is expected to continue moving north in the next few days and potentially intensify into a hurricane on Monday.

Maximum sustained winds have increased to near 65 mph with higher gusts. Tropical storm-force winds extend outward up to 80 miles from the storm’s center, according to the advisory.

As predicted, Hurricane Lee has intensified into a Category 3 storm after slowing down overnight and into Sunday.

Lee is expected to take a slow west-northwestward track in the coming days, passing well north of the northern Leeward Islands, the Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico during the next day or two, according to a Sunday afternoon advisory from the National Hurricane Center.

The storm has returned to Category 3 strength and “additional strengthening” is forcast within the next day or so, the NHC is reporting.

There are no coastal watches or warnings in effect, and it remains unclear whether the storm will reach the northeastern US coast and Canada or continue spinning into the Atlantic on that western track. It still remains too early to tell, according to forecasters.

Take a look at the Atlantic activity with Hurricane Lee, Tropical Storm Margot and two disturbances behind them with a chance of developing into storms in the coming days

The storms and storms-to-be are taking shape during the “peak” of the Atlantic hurricane season.

NOAA forecasts 12 to 17 total named storms this year, with five to nine of those storms turning into hurricanes, including up to four major hurricanes with winds of 111 mph or higher.

Hurricane Lee was downgraded to a Category 2 on Sunday, slowing down as it rears northwest along the eastern seaboard.

It’s expected to strengthen in the coming days, but Lee is not projected to strike land, and there are no coastal watches or warnings in effect, for now.

“It remains too soon to know what level of impacts, if any, Lee might have along the US East Coast, Atlantic Canada or Bermuda late next week, especially since the hurricane is expected to slow down considerably over the southwestern Atlantic,” according to the National Hurricane Center.

Dangerous surf conditions are expected along parts of the East Coast and around the northern Leeward Islands, Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico as well as Hispaniola, the Turks and Caicos Islands, the Bahamas, and Bermuda.

But the storm, roughly 270 miles northeast of the northern Leeward Islands, is expected to steer away from Caribbean islands as it makes its northern turn.