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Hurricane Lee is expected to intensify significantly during the week as it makes landfall on the eastern coast of the United States.
While meteorologists still don’t know if the tornado’s eye will make landfall, the storm’s effects are already being felt as it continues to send dangerous rip tides from the Bahamas to Florida and the Carolinas.
And with Hurricane Lee bearing down on the Atlantic and expected to head north by midweek, several torrential storms have moved through and caused travel chaos and flash flooding across New York and New England.
As of Tuesday morning, Lee was about 575 miles south of Bermuda and was recorded as a Category 3 hurricane with wind gusts of 115 mph. according to the National Hurricane Center.
Trackers show the path of the hurricane that just passed Bermuda midweek, before a northward turn lingers off the Mid-Atlantic and New England states of here the end of the weekend.
Hurricane Lee strengthened from a Category 1 hurricane to a Category 5 hurricane overnight Thursday, raising fears it could rip up the East Coast.
More than 11 inches of rain fell Monday in Leominster, Massachusetts, causing entire cars to be submerged and authorities urging residents to evacuate.
The storm system alarmed forecasters last week when it strengthened from a Category 1 hurricane to a Category 5 hurricane Thursday night.
Meteorologists have apparently gone back and forth on whether the hurricane will make landfall, but the effects of the tornado are still expected to spread across the East Coast within the week.
Tropical storm-force winds are expected to extend more than 300 miles from the storm’s center in the coming days, National Hurricane Center Director Michael Brennan said Monday.
“It is still expected to increase significantly in size and risks will extend well away from the center of the storm by the end of the forecast period,” the weather service said.
“There is still a lot of uncertainty about exactly how close it will come to the coasts of New England and Atlantic Canada over the next few days,” Brennan said, before adding that it remains ” certainly the possibility of significant impacts with a growing storm.
In addition to hitting the southeastern United States, dangerous waves have put areas of the Gulf Coast and Caribbean on alert.
On Monday, the hurricane whipped up waves of more than 15 feet into open waters north of the Caribbean region, but the NHC said “it is too early to determine the precise timing and level of these impacts.” .
Forecasters have struggled to determine the exact path and strength of Hurricane Lee, leading to varying estimates on the extent of damage it could cause.
Forecasters say the hurricane continues to strengthen and weaken as it moves toward the United States, in part through a process called the “eyewall replacement cycle.”
This event sees the eye of the tornado shrink and strengthen as it accelerates, until it reaches maximum speed and a new eyewall forms around the center. When this happens, the storm slows down and expands its reach.
Although a natural process, the increasing magnitude of the hurricane has led to varying estimates of the amount of damage the storm could cause.
Last Wednesday, the NHC warned: “Most intensity models are very aggressive, bringing Lee to major hurricane status by the weekend.” »
In a forecast two days later, the center reversed course on that prediction, admitting that “it is far too early to know what level of impacts, if any, Lee might have along the Eastern Seaboard.” United States, Atlantic Canada or Bermuda at the end of next year. week’.
The forecaster added that this could happen as “the hurricane is expected to slow significantly over the southwest Atlantic.”
The day after Hurricane Lee became a Category 5 storm within hours, the eye of the storm was captured in breathtaking images by the US Air Force as meteorologists tracked waves near its center reaching 50 feet.
Over the weekend, powerful thunderstorms swept through the Northeast and caused flash flooding and travel chaos that was again seen Tuesday morning.
Shocking images showed torrential, waist-deep floodwaters surging across Cumberland, Rhode Island, as the northeast region was battered on Monday.
A massive sinkhole has opened in the central Massachusetts town in which a woman said she and her vehicle were almost swept away by torrential currents.
Severe weather has caused damage to Barrett Park Dam in Leominster, leading to the evacuation of the town by emergency crews.
Severe flood warnings remain in effect across central Massachusetts, which officials say could be life-threatening – although no deaths have been reported in the region due to the severe weather.
Parts of lower Leominster — about 50 miles from Boston — were evacuated Tuesday as flooding caused problems with the Barrett Park Dam.
The city’s mayor, Dean Mazzarella, said more than 28 centimeters of rain had flooded the area, and shocking images showed deep floodwaters submerging cars and flowing through the streets with high currents.
“Everything is just one big lake”, Mazzarella said Monday. “Find a high point somewhere. Find a high place and stay there until it’s over.
Massachusetts Governor Maura Healey also dispatched boat rescue and emergency response teams to the city.
“My heart goes out to the residents and public safety officials in Leominster and other communities facing catastrophic flooding tonight,” she posted on X (formerly Twitter).
Equally dangerous scenes were seen in footage from Cumberland, Rhode Island, as residents were forced from their homes amid waist-deep torrential floodwaters.
One person who shared images of the flash flood said they had “lived here for 20 years and there has never been flooding this bad.”
In another image shared on social media, a huge sinkhole had opened in the town of 40,000 into which a woman said she was lucky not to drift due to high currents.
The worst storms have hit Massachusetts and Rhode Island, with wet and wild weather expected to extend all week across New England.
A flash flood warning has been extended until Tuesday in Leominster due to storms.
Further disruption is expected throughout the week, worsening as the storm turns its forecast northward midweek.
With the system’s reach still uncertain, areas from Bermuda to Atlantic Canada are on alert.
Amid uncertainty over the storm’s path, computer-generated models in recent days have shown that the storm could land on major cities, including New York and Boston, while also potentially returning to the Atlantic.
However, equally comforting models have proven tragically wrong in the past. In 2017, meteorologists predicted that Hurricane Irma would turn toward the ocean, before hitting Florida’s Gulf Coast and killing at least 92 people.
The “eyewall replacement cycle” seen during Hurricane Lee could cause significant damage, but the timing of replacement is critical. The process saved many Florida residents last month when Hurricane Idalia hit Florida’s Gulf Coast.
Although the hurricane caused significant damage and left at least two people dead, experts warned that the damage could have been much worse as the hurricane turned around and slowed down thanks to the natural phenomenon.
However, the timing of the replacement could see it strengthen beyond previous levels described by Ryan Maue, a meteorologist and former chief scientist at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, as follows: “Like a figure skater pulling in her arms instead of reaching out to him, the Hurricane spins with much more energy, power and ferocity when he has a closer eye.