Lee becomes a major Category 4 hurricane, risks warn on US East Coast

What seemed like a possibility is now real and Lee became a major Category 4 hurricane. Dangerous waves are likely and life-threatening currents in the Leeward Islands, Puerto Rico, the Bahamas and along the east coast of the United States.

According to data from the National Hurricane Center, Hurricane Lee strengthened into a major Category 4 storm Thursday afternoon, and forecasters predicted it could eventually become a more devastating Category 5 storm.

Lee, which has been swirling in the Atlantic, has intensified since earlier in the week and was upgraded from a tropical storm to a Category 1 hurricane on Wednesday.

The National Hurricane Center warned that the storm system would “rapidly intensify” on Thursday, meaning maximum winds would increase to 35 mph in 24 hours or less.

Environmental conditions appear favorable for Lee to become a Category 5 hurricane with winds up to 160 mph Saturday morning.

As predicted, the storm had grown into a major Category 4 hurricane.

A “major hurricane” is a storm that is Category 3 or larger on the Saffir-Simpson hurricane wind scale.

Lee was about 780 miles east of the northern Leeward Islands, with maximum sustained winds of 130 mph, Thursday afternoon, the National Hurricane Center said.

“These surges are likely to cause life-threatening surf and rip currents. “Dangerous surf and rip currents are expected to begin along most of the East Coast of the United States starting Sunday,” according to the National Hurricane Center.

Lee was moving west-northwest at 15 mph and will continue on that path with a gradual deceleration in forward speed.

The storm’s long-term path is still uncertain. Most tropical models curve the hurricane northward, possibly near Bermuda or between Bermuda and the US East Coast next week.