Two tropical cyclones (hurricanes) are currently raging in the North Atlantic. The two storms are relatively close together and end up providing incredible satellite images of the hurricane duo. These are tropical cyclones Lee and Margot. Only one of them poses a threat to continental North America.
NOAA
A few days ago, Hurricane Lee reached Category 5, the maximum on the SaffirSimpson hurricane scale. It was a Category 3 storm with maximum sustained wind speeds of 180 km/h and a central pressure of 951 hPa late morning, centered about 800 kilometers south of Bermuda.
Tomorrow and Thursday, Lee will bypass a major ridge of high pressure in the North Atlantic, which will put the tropical cyclone on a northward path of faster displacement. As he nears death, Lee also grows larger and his winds weaken, although he should reach a much larger area.
Lee will soon move over cooler waters created by recent hurricanes Franklin and Idalia. It is expected to make landfall this weekend with tropical storm force. Shortly before landfall, Lee will experience a transition to a posttropical storm, meaning it will be an extratropical cyclone.
Lee’s size means the storm will bring heavy rain to much of Canada’s Atlantic coast and northeastern New England in the United States. Rain is not welcome as New England has had one of the wettest summers on record and too much rain will likely lead to flooding.
Margot is a storm that will remain in the open sea and pose no threat to the continent. Tropical Storm Margot became the fifth hurricane of the 2023 Atlantic season yesterday afternoon. Based on average data from 1991 to 2020, the fifth Atlantic hurricane usually occurs on October 15 and this year in the first half of September, indicating a more active season than normal.