Hurricane Lee downgraded to Category 3
Hurricane and Tropical Storm watches were issued for much of coastal New England on Wednesday as Hurricane Lee pivots north.
Lee weakened to a Category 2 storm in the Atlantic today but remained “large and dangerous”, according to forecasters.
The storm is 380 miles (610km) south-southwest of Bermuda with conditions expected to deteriorate on the island’s beach areas by Thursday morning.
“On the forecast track, the center of Lee will pass west of Bermuda Thursday and Thursday night and then approach the coast of New England and Atlantic Canada Friday and Saturday,” the National Hurricane Center reported.
Forecasters said it’s possible that Lee will make landfall in Nova Scotia as a tropical storm on Sunday.
A Hurricane Watch was issued for portions of down-east Maine from Stonington to the US-Canada border.
A Tropical Storm Watch was issued for a large area of coastal New England from Watch Hill, Rhode Island to Stonington, Maine, including Block Island, Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket. A Storm Surge Watch was issued for Cape Cod Bay and Nantucket, Massachusetts.
Behind Lee is Hurricane Margot, the fifth hurricane of the 2023 season, which is “forecast to meander over the North Atlantic during the next few days”.
