Hurricane Lee turns north, heading toward Bermuda, New England

GREENVILLE, S.C. (FOX Carolina) - Hurricane Lee is starting to turn north Wednesday as a very large hurricane, picking speed over the next few days.

After meandering north of the Caribbean for the last several days, Lee is going to make some movement now that a cold front moving across the East Coast is going to help it turn to the north. As it heads into cooler waters, the intensity of the storm weakens, becoming a category two storm through Friday and then further weakening to a category one heading into the weekend.

It’s expected to pick up some speed over the next few days, spreading tropical storm conditions over Bermuda Thursday into Friday, then taking aim a parts of New England this weekend. The size of the storms means impacts will be felt well outside the cone of uncertainty. Tropical storm force winds extend out around 250 miles from the center with hurricane force winds over a hundred miles from the center.

Forecasts show possible New England and Canadian impacts over the weekend. By the time the storm gets this far north, it’s expected to weaken into a low end hurricane or strong tropical or post-tropical storm. Heavy rain and strong winds are possible so if you have family or travel interests in this area, keep a close eye on Lee.

We won’t see any direct impacts in the Carolinas from Lee, but the beaches are looking at a high risk for rip currents and choppy surf through the week.

We also have Hurricane Margot in the Central Atlantic, our fifth hurricane of the season. But it poses no threat to land.

A tropical disturbance in the Eastern Atlantic bears watching. It likely develops into a tropical depression or storm by the weekend. This is another system we’ll be watch for a while as it doesn’t near land, if at all, until next week.

For the latest forecast updates, download the free FOX Carolina First Alert Weather app.

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