Hurricane Lee approaching Caribbean as Category 5 storm – National | 24CA News
Hurricane Lee charged via heat Atlantic waters on Friday and threatened to unleash heavy swells throughout the northeast Caribbean. It grew to become the season’s first Category 5 storm earlier than weakening barely.
Currently a Category 4 hurricane, it’s not anticipated to make landfall, however meteorologists warned it will generate harmful waves of as much as 15 toes (5 meters) throughout the northern coast of Puerto Rico and different close by islands. While Lee is on a path that will take it a pair hundred miles (kilometers) northeast of the Caribbean, tropical storm situations usually are not forecast for the area.
“Although the hurricane is incredibly powerful, its wind field is not particularly large,” the National Hurricane Center stated.
The hurricane was situated about 565 miles (910 kilometers) east of the northern Leeward Islands. It had winds of as much as 155 miles per hour (250 kilometers per hour) and was shifting west-northwest at 13 mph (20 kph).
“Fluctuations in intensity like what has occurred this morning are not uncommon in intense hurricanes,” the centre stated.
Lee is predicted to strengthen and attain winds of as much as 180 mph (290 kph). Only seven Atlantic hurricanes have had winds of that magnitude since 1966, based on Colorado State University hurricane researcher Phil Klotzbach. Among these was Hurricane Dorian, which pummeled the northern Bahamas in 2019 as a Category 5 storm, hovering over small islands for about two days.
The heart stated harmful surf and lethal rip currents would seemingly hit the northern Leeward Islands later Friday. They would unfold to Puerto Rico, Hispaniola, the Turks and Caicos, the Bahamas and Bermuda over the weekend.
“We will see waves between 10 and 15 feet (3 and 5 meters), so we don’t want anyone on the beaches,” stated Ernesto Morales with the National Weather Service in San Juan, Puerto Rico.
The National Hurricane Center stated harmful surf and rip currents have been forecast for many of the U.S. East Coast beginning Sunday, however that it didn’t have additional particulars of what else the storm may unleash.
“It is way too soon to know what level of impacts, if any, Lee might have along the U.S. East Coast, Atlantic Canada or Bermuda late next week,” the middle stated.
U.S. President Joe Biden on Thursday was given the hurricane’s newest trajectory and particulars of preparations underway by the U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency. About 4.5 million meals and almost 8.9 million liters of water can be found in Puerto Rico, and one other roughly 250,000 meals and greater than 600,000 liters of water within the U.S. Virgin Islands, the company stated Friday.
FEMA stated it has additionally deployed fast response groups to each U.S. territories as a precaution.
Lee is the twelfth named storm of the Atlantic hurricane season, which runs from June 1 to Nov. 30 and peaks in September.
Tropical Storm Margot grew to become the thirteenth named storm after forming on Thursday night. It was situated about 580 miles (930 kilometers) west-northwest of the Cabo Verde Islands. It had winds of as much as 40 mph (65 kph) and was forecast to strengthen right into a hurricane over the weekend. It was shifting west-northwest at 17 mph (28 kph) and is predicted to stay over open water.
The National Ocean and Atmospheric Administration in August forecasted between 14 and 21 named storms this season, with six to 11 of them anticipated to turn into hurricanes, and of these, two to 5 presumably growing into main hurricanes.
In the Pacific, Hurricane Jova churned via open waters removed from Mexico’s southwest coast and posed no menace to land.
It was situated about 755 miles (1,220 kilometers) west-southwest of the southern tip of Baja, California, and was shifting west-northwest at 16 mph (26 kph) with winds as much as 100 mph (155 kph).
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