Tropical Storm Lee is close to hurricane strength and is forecast to quickly intensify to an “extremely dangerous major hurricane” by Saturday, according to the National Hurricane Center.
The tropical storm is currently 1,200 miles east of the Leeward Islands.
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Lee is forecast to strengthen to a Category 4 hurricane with winds up to 150 mph by Saturday as it stays over open, record-warm water.
Lee is currently expected to move north of the Caribbean Islands over the weekend, sparing the islands any direct impacts other than rough surf and rip currents.
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By next week, the spaghetti models show Lee turning north before reaching Turks and Caicos. Bermuda may be in Lee’s path.
Long-range models can change over the next week, but they currently show Lee moving parallel to the East Coast. If Lee stays on that course, the East Coast wouldn’t see direct impacts, but would be hit with large surf and rip currents by late next week.
Tropical Storm Lee: Projected path, maps and hurricane tracker originally appeared on abcnews.go.com