TAMPA, Fla. - Lee is officially a hurricane, the National Hurricane Center confirmed Wednesday afternoon during its 5 p.m. advisory.
In the advisory, the NHC reported Hurricane Lee is likely to intensify into an extremely dangerous major hurricane by early Saturday. FOX 13 meteorologists have indicated Lee could possibly even become the first Category 5 hurricane of the 2023 season.
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FOX 13 Chief Meteorologist Paul Dellegatto said computer models are continuing to suggest that there could be a curve that leads the storm away from the East Coast of the United States. However, the storm is still far out into the Atlantic and will need to be monitored as it continues.
As of 5 p.m. on Wednesday, Hurricane Lee was located at 14.9 degrees longitude and 46.4 degrees latitude. It had maximum sustained winds of 75 miles per hour and was moving west-northwest at 14 miles an hour.
The NHC advised that impacts to the northern Leeward Islands this weekend are possible, and swells generated by the storm could reach portions of the Lesser Antilles, the British and U.S. Virgin Islands, and Puerto Rico by this weekend.
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A tropical storm becomes a hurricane once it reaches winds speeds of 74 miles per hour.
Tropical Storm Lee is predicted to become a hurricane by Wednesday afternoon.
The National Hurricane Center is keeping Lee north of the Leeward Islands through early Monday, when it is expected to have wind speeds of about 150 miles an hour, making it a Category 4 hurricane.
FOX 13 Meteorologist Dave Osterberg says there are computer models that have the storm reaching even higher wind speeds, which may make Lee the first Category 5 hurricane of the season.
Lee is the 12th named storm of the Atlantic hurricane season, which runs from June 1 to Nov. 30.
In August, the National Ocean and Atmospheric Administration updated its forecast and warned that this year’s hurricane season would be above normal with 14 to 21 named storms. Of those named storms, six to 11 could become hurricanes, with two to five of them possibly becoming major hurricanes.