2023-09-09 18:20:20
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Hurricane Lee, a powerful Category 3 storm, is expected to move well north of Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands (BVMF:) this weekend, but could cause dangerous conditions on beaches on the east coast of the United States. USA from Sunday, the US National Hurricane Center reported on Saturday.
Lee, located about 565 kilometers east-northeast of the northern Leeward Islands, was packing winds of 115 mph (185 kph), the weather center said. The storm was moving west-northwest at 12 mph (19 kph), but its forward speed was expected to slow significantly.
The center said it is too early to know what level of impact, if any, Lee might have along the U.S. East Coast, Atlantic Canada or Bermuda late next week, especially since its speed is expected to decrease in the southwest Atlantic.
Lee intensified into a dangerous Category 5 storm earlier in the week, the highest level on the Saffir-Simpson wind scale, before being downgraded to a Category 3 hurricane.
Category 5 storms can cause catastrophic damage and destroy a high percentage of homes, according to the National Weather Service. They also down power lines and trees, which can cause power outages that last weeks and make affected areas uninhabitable for weeks, if not longer.
“Fluctuations in intensity are likely over the next few days, however, Lee is expected to remain a powerful hurricane until early next week,” he said.
(Reporting by Eric Beech and Timothy Gardner)
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