
Hurricane Lee has intensified into a Category 5 storm as it spins hundreds of miles east of the Caribbean, the National Hurricane Center (NHC) said early Friday (September 8). Lee was a Category 1 storm on Thursday but has intensified with exceptional speed since then. In its update, the NHC said that Lee was located about 630 miles east of the northern Leeward Islands.
“Additional strengthening is forecast today. Fluctuations in intensity are likely over the next few days, but Lee is expected to remain a major hurricane through early next week,” it added.
On Thursday, the NHC said that Lee was expected to remain powerful through the next several days.
According to a report by CNN on Friday, Hurricane Lee would likely reach its peak intensity by this weekend and is still expected to be a dangerous hurricane over the southwestern Atlantic early next week. The report said there was increasing confidence that the centre of Lee will pass to the north of the Leeward Islands, the Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico this weekend and into early next week.
The NHC, meanwhile, also said dangerous surf and rip currents will spread across the northern Caribbean on Friday and begin affecting the US on Sunday.
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