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Hurricane Lee formed from a tropical wave that left the coast of Africa on September 2. The system struggled to gain organization until it reached the central Atlantic and became Tropical Depression Thirteen a few days later.
TD 13 was upgraded to Tropical Storm Lee on September 5 and took about 24 hours to reach hurricane status, with winds of at least 74 mph.
By Thursday, September 7, the hurricane had made it far enough west in the basin that a Hurricane Hunter aircraft was able to investigate the storm and determine that a period of rapid intensification was underway. As of Friday morning, Lee had sustained winds of around 165 mph and gusts near 185 mph.
Its increase in wind speed of 85 mph over 24 hours made it one of the fastest intensifying storms ever seen in the Atlantic basin, only to have been outdone by Hurricane Felix in 2007 and Hurricane Wilma in 2005.
The hurricane didn’t stay an intense Category 5 for long- a sudden rush of upper-level winds helped cripple the inner workings of the storm, and its strength plummeted to a Category 3 on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale.
Lee was the first hurricane of the 2023 season to reach Category 5 status and was stronger than both Hurricanes Franklin and Idalia, that formed weeks before.
HURRICANE LEE LIVE TRACKER: SATELLITE, SPAGHETTI COMPUTER MODELS, CONE OF CONCERN AND MORE
So far, islands that make up the Lesser Antilles, Puerto Rico and the U.S. and British Virgin Islands have all reported increased swells and rough seas.
Due to the hurricane passing some of the island nations, neither Tropical Storm nor Hurricane Watches were issued for locations such as Antigua and Barbuda, Guadeloupe or Dominica.
The National Hurricane Center, in coordination with local weather service offices, have the ability to either issue a Hurricane Watch or a Tropical Storm Watch when sustained winds are possible within the next 48 hours.
The U.S. Coast Guard set port operating conditions to X-Ray in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands, which alerts vessels to at least gale force conditions possible within 48 hours.
The Coast Guard warned seas greater than 10 feet hampers their ability to respond to distressed boaters.
HURRICANE LEE MAINTAINS STRENGTH WITH COASTAL IMPACTS ARRIVING TO US BEACHES