Hurricane Lee advances towards US as warnings issued for New England
New England will start bearing the brunt of Hurricane Lee on Friday with winds nearing 85mph and 3ft of possible storm surge.
Maine declared a state of emergency as the state issued its first hurricane watch in 15 years. Massachusetts also declared a state of emergency on Friday. Lee was downgraded to a Category 1 but it is still expected to be a “large and dangerous storm” this weekend, forecasters warned.
The hurricane picked up speed as it turned north on the approach to the coast of New England on Friday. Lee is then expected to move across the border and impact Atlantic Canada on Saturday night and Sunday.
Beginning Friday night, Lee is expected to drop 1-4 inches of rain across parts of eastern New England, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia.
Storm surge is also a threat to coastal areas, particularly if it occurs at high tide. Surge of 1-3ft is possible from Flushing, New York to the US-Canada border including the Long Island Sound, Cape Cod, Martha’s Vineyard, Nantucket, and Boston Harbor.
Hurricane Lee arrives in New England while the region is still in recovery mode after heavy rain and flash flooding inundated parts of Massachusetts earlier this week.
Coastal Maine could see 15-feet high waves due to Hurricane Lee
The storm is projected to be more than 400 miles wide with tropical-storm-force winds when it reaches land, creating worries of power outages in Maine, the nation’s most heavily forested state, where the ground is saturated and trees are weakened from heavy summer rains.
Lee remained a hurricane with 80mph winds at night as it headed toward New England and eastern Canada with 20-foot ocean swells, strong winds and rain.
Forecasters said there would be winds topping 40mph across the region, with peak winds reaching upward of 65mph ahead of landfall expected today.
While landfall was projected for nearby Nova Scotia, the Category 1 system was big enough to cause concerns over a wide area even if it weakens to a tropical storm.
Parts of coastal Maine could see waves up to 15-feet high crashing down, causing erosion and damage, and the strong gusts will cause power outages, said Louise Fode, a National Weather Service meteorologist in Maine.
As much as 5 inches of rain was forecast for eastern Maine, where a flash flood watch was in effect.
Alisha Rahaman Sarkar16 September 2023 04:15
NOAA model shows Hurricane Lee’s predicted trajectory
The NOAA has released a new trajectory model showing the predicted path Hurricane Lee will take when it makes landfall near the US and Canadian borders on Saturday.
Hurricane Lee is a Category 1 storm, and is expected to bring high winds and strong storm surges to the region.
Graig Graziosi16 September 2023 04:00
How hard will Hurricane Lee hit New England?
New England is known for its fickle weather, powerful nor’easters and blizzards. Destructive hurricanes, however, are relatively rare and typically don’t pack the same punch as tropical cyclones that hit the Southeast.
New England, in the crosshairs of Hurricane Lee, is usually protected from the worst of a hurricane’s wrath by the cold waters of the North Atlantic, and that’s expected to help reduce Lee to a tropical storm by the time it arrives by today morning
A number of factors determine the path and strength of a hurricane. But the warm waters that can strengthen a hurricane are typically south of Cape Cod. North of there, the Atlantic waters are much colder
Alisha Rahaman Sarkar16 September 2023 03:49
More than 3 million people under hurricane or tropical storm watches
More than 3 million people between New England and Canada’s Maritime Provinces are under either tropical storm or hurricane watches as Hurricane Lee moves closer to landfall.
The hurricane is expected to make landfall on Saturday afternoon.
The storm is forecast to produce winds of up to 75mph (121km/h) in the affected region.
CBS News senior weather and climate producer David Parkinson predicted that the Maritime Provinces would see the worst of the storm, but noted that 15 foot waves would likely batter New England as the storm moves through.
Graig Graziosi16 September 2023 03:00
‘Today is the last day to prepare’ warns meteorologist as Hurricane Lee closes in on New England
Stephanie Abrams, a meteorologist with The Weather Channel, warned residents of New England and Canada’s Maritime Provinces that today was the “last day to prepare” before Hurricane Lee arrives with strong winds, 2 to 4 inches (50-100ml) of rain, and signficant storm surges.
“Today is the last day to preparshe told CBS Mornings on Friday. “Conditions go downhill tonight, and tomorrow, Lee will be battering parts of New England. The strongest winds are expected to be along the coast.”
Hurricane Lee is expected to make landfall on Saturday afternoon.
Graig Graziosi16 September 2023 02:00
WATCH: Hurricane Lee and travel impacts
Hurricane Lee and travel impacts
Graig Graziosi16 September 2023 01:00
Nasa reveals how much hotter 2023 summer was than average
Warming seas, caused by the fossil fuel-driven climate criss, have helped to produce more severe hurricanes in recent years.
As Hurricane Lee closes in on New England and Canada’s Maritime Provinces, NASA has marked 2023 as the hottest year on record, The Independent’s Stuti Mishra reports.
Earth recorded its hottest summer on record this year, data from the American space agency Nasa and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (Noaa) confirmed in new maps that reveal how quickly the world is heating up.
The last three months had the hottest summer in the Northern Hemisphere and the warmest winter in the Southern Hemisphere, Nasa and Noaa said on Wednesday in a release.
Graig Graziosi16 September 2023 00:00
Rhode Island works to secure “Independent Man” statue atop the capitol before Hurricane Lee arrives
Governor Dan McKee of Rhode Island told the Associated Press that crews were working to secure the state’s iconic 11-foot-tall “Independent Man” statue above the State House dome on Friday before Hurricane Lee’s winds blow in on Saturday.
The 500-pound statue was shored up against the storm’s rain and winds.
Graig Graziosi15 September 2023 23:00
Beaches close ahead of Hurricane Lee
East Hampton, New York, shuttered its beaches on Friday ahead of Hurricane Lee.
Swimming — and in some cases even walking — at the beach was prohibited due to the dangerous surf rolling in as a result of the storm.
Local officials put up caution tape along the sand at Main Beach to ward off any last minute swimmers before the storm’s effects are felt in full, accoridng to News12 Long Island.
Graig Graziosi15 September 2023 22:00
Rough surf spotted off the coast of North Carolina as Hurricane Lee makes it way north
An X/Twitter user captured video of rough surf off the coast of Wrightsville Beach, North Carolina, stirred up by the churning of Hurricane Lee.
The storm is barreling north, where it is expected to make landfall on Saturday near the US-Canada border.
Surfers in New England and the Maritime Provinces have taken advantage of the 10 to 15 foot waves produced by the storm, but local emergency officials have warned that residents should seek shleter before the storm arrives in earnest late tomorrow afternoon.
Graig Graziosi15 September 2023 21:47