Wednesday, September 6, 2023

Future storm may aim @ east coast

As of mid-day Tuesday, the National Hurricane Center started issuing advisories on Tropical Depression 13, which became Tropical Storm Lee at 5 p.m. 

The future Lee is currently located about halfway between West Africa and the Lesser Antilles, in the heart of the Tropical Atlantic’s Main Development Region, moving WNW at about 15 miles per hour. 

This general forward motion will continue into the weekend, and Lee should gain enough latitude to pass safely north of the U.S. Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico in around 5 days. 

Lee will be moving across Atlantic waters that are two to four degrees warmer than average, with ideal mid-level moisture and upper-level wind conditions for rapid intensification. 

The official forecast has Lee as a Category 4 Hurricane by Saturday morning, which is handily the most intensification ever predicted by an initial NHC advisory. 

Lee does not look like a threat to Florida. 

On the other hand, the indeterminate details of the squeeze play between that eastern U.S. trough and a resilient ridge of west-central Atlantic high pressure does not completely rule out an eventual threat to the mid-Atlantic or New England. (The AP 09/06/23) Hurricane Lee forecast: NHC charts tropical storm's path to Cat. 4 (clarionledger.com)

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