Hurricane Lee began to spin away from the northern Caribbean on Wednesday as the Category 2 storm left big waves in its wake and aimed for New England and Atlantic Canada.
The storm was located about 420 miles (675 kilometers) south-southwest of Bermuda. It had winds of up to 110 miles per hour (175 kilometers per hour) and was moving north-northwest at 9 mph (15 kph).
Lee was expected to pass just west of Bermuda, prompting forecasters to issue a tropical storm warning for the island. Wind and heavy rainfall were expected to lash Bermuda starting late Wednesday or early Thursday, forecasters said.
Lee is then expected to grow in size and keep traveling north as it slowly loses strength in cooler waters. It is expected to approach the coast of New England or Atlantic Canada on Friday and Saturday and remain a “large and dangerous hurricane,” according to the National Hurricane Center.
“Due to Lee’s large size, hazards will extend well away from the center, and there will be little to no significance on exactly where the center reaches the coast,” the center said.
Hurricane-force winds extended up to 115 miles (185 kilometers) from Lee’s center, and tropical-storm-force winds extended up to 240 miles (390 kilometers), the center reported. It warned of wind, rain and coastal flooding for parts of New England and Atlantic Canada.
The storm is approaching as New England struggled on Wednesday with flooding from unusually heavy rainfall unrelated to the hurricane.
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