Hurricane Lee Picking Up Speed and Headed Toward New England

Landfall in Atlantic Canada Projected for Late Saturday

Despite slightly weakening over the last several hours, Hurricane Lee is still forecast to unleash heavy rain, high winds, and more as it inches closer to New England and Atlantic Canada. Here is the latest on this impending weather event.

Hurricane Lee remains a potent Category 1 storm with a predicted landfall in Atlantic Canada late Saturday. As of late Friday morning, Lee was packing maximum sustained winds of 80 ph. The storm is churning about 350 miles to the south-southwest of Nantucket, Massachusetts as it moves to the north at a speed of 18 mph. Lee is expected to speed up as it weakens while it moves into cooler waters.

The current models indicate that Lee will make landfall somewhere between the southwestern coast of Nova Scotia to New Brunswick. Portions of New England will feel the impacts of Lee's close presence. These impacts will include minor storm surge and coastal flooding, times of heavy rain, and strong winds.

The good news is that Lee is weakening as it tracks into the North Atlantic, making the transition from a tropical system to a non-tropical storm. This transition means that the winds are expanding away from the center.