Hurricane Lee Expected To Reach Category 5 Strength.

(It’s too early to tell, but my forecast is that Florida will be on the western edge and we will get rain, wind, and lots of tidal rise with the danger of large rips, but it will turn north and do the most damage, if it maintains a Hurricane force, in the Carolinas or further north.)
Forecasters with the federal government predict Hurricane Lee will reach Category 5 status by the weekend as it heads toward the United States, though its extended track remains uncertain.
Maximum sustained winds are expected to reach 160 miles per hour by the weekend, putting the storm at the high end of the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale with the potential for “catastrophic” damage.
“Many of the models are calling for remarkable rates of intensification, beyond rates normally seen with model forecasts,” the National Hurricane Center (NHC) said in a Thursday discussion post.
In the days that follow, the storm is expected to slightly diminish to Category 4 status, which would still keep it as a major hurricane.
The NHC said the storm, which was moving over the Atlantic Ocean toward the Caribbean as a Category 2 hurricane as of midday on Thursday, would likely travel north of Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, and other nearby islands over the weekend and into next week. But, the agency added, these islands should continue monitoring for updates.
“Swells generated by Lee are expected to reach portions of the Lesser Antilles on Friday, and the British and U.S. Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico, Hispaniola, the Bahamas, and Bermuda this weekend. These swells are likely to cause life-threatening surf and rip current conditions,” the NHC stressed in one of its “key” messages.
The outlook for next week for Hurricane Lee gets murky, as is often the case with extended forecasts, and even if it does not make landfall over North America, its effects could still extend far and wide.