After undergoing an impressive rapid intensification phase over the past 24 hours, Hurricane Lee remains consistent in so far sparing the northeastern Caribbean on its trek across the open Atlantic Ocean on Friday (September 8).

Meteorologists at the US-based National Hurricane Center (NHC) anticipate Lee will maintain its category five intensity well into the next week, with minor fluctuations likely.

As at 5:00 am Atlantic Standard Time (AST), the centre of Hurricane Lee was located near latitude 17.8 North, longitude 53.5 West—or roughly 1,015 kilometres east of the northern Leeward Islands.

The behemoth hurricane, moving west-northwest at 22 kilometeres/hour, currently packs maximum sustained winds near 270 kilometres/hour, with higher gusts.

While posing no direct threat to lands in the Caribbean, hurricane-force winds extend outward up to 75 kilometres Lee’s centre. On the other hand, tropical-storm-force winds extend outward up to 220 kilometres.

On the forecast track, NHC sleuths expect Hurricane Lee to further strengthen, becoming the seventh category five hurricane to reach 180 miles/hour (~290 kilometres/hour) in the modern satellite era—joining Allen (1980), Gilbert (1988), Mitch (1998), Rita (2005), Wilma (2005), Irma (2017) and Dorian (2019).

#Hurricane #Lee is forecast to reach a max intensity of 180 mph. Only seven Atlantic hurricanes in satellite era (since 1966) have had max winds >= 180 mph:

Allen (1980), Gilbert (1988), Mitch (1998), Rita (2005), Wilma (2005), Irma (2017), Dorian (2019) pic.twitter.com/P5HOUDFMb3

— Philip Klotzbach (@philklotzbach) September 8, 2023

Lee is the third major system (category three intensity or higher) of the 2023 season after hurricanes Franklin and Idalia.

Tropical Storm Margot also joined the fray Thursday morning, having been upgraded from Tropical Depression 14 in the eastern tropical Atlantic.

As at 5:00 am AST, however, Margot’s centre was located near latitude 17.4 North, longitude 30.8 West—or some 740 kilometres west-northwest of the Cabo Verde Islands.

Margot, the 14th storm of the 2023 Atlantic Hurricane Season, is moving west-northwesterly at a brisk 26 kilometres/hour and currently packs maximum sustained winds near 65 kilometres/hour, with higher gusts.

Simulated projections suggest that Tropical Storm Margot will make a deep northwest turn early into next week.

Sleuths at the NHC also anticipate Margot reach hurricane strength as early as next Monday.

Similarly to Lee, Margot poses no direct threat to land at this time.