Lee expected to rapidly intensify to an 'extremely dangerous' hurricane
Lee is forecast to become a hurricane on Thursday, likely reaching major storm status by Friday
Tropical Storm Lee has developed in the Atlantic Ocean, becoming the 14th storm of the season.
Although there is little to no impact to land in the short term, Lee's development is interesting. Rapid intensification has been a topic with hurricanes over the past couple of years and this one is doing just that.
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Early Tuesday, Lee was a tropical depression with a projection to become a Category 4 hurricane within five days –– the first time since five-day forecasts started in 2000 that a storm will intensify that quickly from a tropical depression. That is just a forecast statistic, so we will see how quickly Lee develops with time.
Lee is forecast to become a hurricane later Wednesday, then reach major storm status by Friday. According to the U.S. National Hurricane Center (NHC), this will be an "extremely dangerous" hurricane.
It will become a long-lasting storm as it tracks north of the British Virgin Islands towards the western Atlantic. Lee will be a storm to watch as it has the potential to bring impact to land into late next week.
With files from Matthew Grinter, a meteorologist at The Weather Network.
Thumbnail courtesy of NOAA.
Stay tuned to The Weather Network for the latest forecast updates on Tropical Storm Lee.