CNN –
Hurricane Lee strengthened further on Tuesday, triggering a tropical storm warning for Bermuda as the cyclone’s potential impact on the island and beyond becomes clearer.
Lee, a Category 3 hurricane, was centered about 535 miles south of Bermuda on Tuesday afternoon with maximum sustained winds of 115 mph, the National Hurricane Center said.
According to the hurricane center’s update at 5 p.m. ET, the storm has increased in size since the weekend and hurricane-force winds now extend 125 miles from Lee’s center. Tropical storm strength reached a magnitude of 240 Miles from its core after growing 55 miles in 12 hours.
Lee is expected to remain fairly strong through Tuesday night, but will lose some intensity Wednesday through Thursday as it moves over slightly cooler waters churned up by Hurricane Franklin earlier this month.
But as Lee loses some strength this week, the hurricane will simultaneously continue to grow in size and move faster.
A larger storm could affect a larger area, even if its winds no longer reach Monster hurricane levels. A major Hurricane Lee is therefore more likely to hit the East Coast – even if it does not make direct landfall.
Tropical-storm-force winds could extend more than 300 miles from Lee’s center later this week, National Hurricane Center director Michael Brennan said in a storm briefing Monday.
This means potentially damaging wind gusts could still hit parts of the northeastern U.S. by the end of the week, even if the leeward center remains over the Atlantic Ocean a few hundred miles offshore. Tropical-storm-force wind gusts could reach parts of Connecticut and eastern Massachusetts Friday evening, with Lee’s center expected to be about 250 miles southeast.
The exact timing and extent of Lee’s winds and precipitation across the U.S. and Canada could still fluctuate as uncertainty remains about what will happen next. But the hurricane’s track may become more clear once it turns north on Wednesday.
Regardless of its ultimate direction, the storm will send large waves to a growing area of the East Coast as it moves north later this week. This leads to coastal erosion, dangerous surf and life-threatening rip currents on beaches.
Dangerous surf has already occurred along the southeastern U.S. coast from Florida through the Carolinas and on many of the Far Eastern Caribbean islands, as well as the British and U.S. Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico, Hispaniola, the Turks and Caicos Islands, the Bahamas and Bermuda.
There was a high risk of rip currents in coastal areas from Florida north to Massachusetts at least through Wednesday night. Preliminary data from the National Weather Service shows 71 people have been killed by rip currents in the U.S. so far this year. Three people died in New Jersey in the rip currents created in the wake of Hurricane Franklin last week.
Lee is expected to turn north on Wednesday and quicken his pace. The hurricane is expected to make its closest approach to Bermuda Thursday through Friday, producing strong winds and rain as well as dangerous surf and rip currents.
Late Tuesday morning, Bermuda’s weather service issued a tropical storm warning for the island, meaning tropical storms are possible there over the next 48 hours.
As Lee moves westward, tropical storm squalls are likely to hit Bermuda Thursday morning into Friday. During this time there may also be heavy rainfall at times, which can lead to localized flash flooding.
The seas around the island become dangerous with large waves as Lee approaches.