Hurricanes Jose, Maria Could Go High-Low On Eastern Seaboard

Dual hurricanes are bringing storm season to New England while the other end of the coast prays for a reprieve. Hurricane Maria reached major storm status near the Caribbean late Monday morning, joining Hurricane Jose as the most recent storms threatening to piggyback on the devastation wrought by Hurricanes Harvey and Irma. What does it mean for the regions? Southern New England is hunkering down for an imminent clash with Jose, while storm-weary Florida is hoping Maria steers clear. (Keep up on hurricane updates and other local news by finding your local Patch and subscribing. If you have an iPhone, click here to get the free Patch iPhone app.)

We start in the mid-Atlantic, where Jose churned Monday morning with an eye toward the coast between Delaware and Southern New England. Jose was about 600 miles south of Cape Cod, which was hit with a rare-for-these-parts tropical storm watch Sunday night. The National Weather Service is warning of wind gusts up to 75 miles per hour and between 5-8 inches of rain for the islands (Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket, we're looking at you).

Only three tropical storms have made landfall in New England this century: Tropical Storm Hermine in 2004, Tropical Storm Beryl in 2006 and Hurricane Hanna in 2008. Hanna was a tropical storm by the time it touched down. The last time a hurricane reached New England land was 1991; Hurricane Bob was a Category 2 storm

Right now the storm's center is expected to remain offshore, so the interior part of New England hasn't seen weather watches or warnings yet. A deviation to the left of the storm's expected path would bring potentially dangerous weather more inland.

The coastline, including Delaware, New Jersey, Connecticut, Rhode Island and Massachusetts, should be avoided. The NWS says this is a "life-threatening situation" for mariners. A tropical storm warning — the next step up from a watch — has been called for the waters off the Southern New England coast.

What about Maria?

Farther out — and carrying more potential for damage — is Maria. The Category 3 storm was about 60 miles east of Martinique as of late Monday morning, packing maximum sustained winds of 120 mph. Forecasters say it's only going to get stronger.

"Maria is likely to strengthen significantly, and is expected to be at major hurricane intensity when it affects portions of the Leeward Islands over the next few days," the National Hurricane Center wrote at 5 a.m. Monday. "Maria is likely to affect the British and U.S. Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico by mid-week as a dangerous major hurricane."

Hurricane warnings were in place for Guadeloupe, Dominica, St. Kitts, Martinique, the U.S. and British Virgin Islands and St. Lucia, among other interests in the region. Forecasters are expecting Maria to affect the area as an "extremely dangerous hurricane." Hurricane watches were also in place for Puerto Rico, St. Maarten, Anguilla and other islands.

Hundreds of thousands in Florida were without power days after Irma had already left the region. Schools were reopening and residents returning, but basic utilities were still "intermittent at best," said Monroe County Mayor George Neugent during a news conference Saturday.

Meanwhile, Tropical Depression Lee was continuing to fizzle out Monday morning. Forecasters say the storm still had maximum sustained winds of 35 mph but is expected to become a remnant by Monday evening. Lee posed no risk to major land masses Monday morning.

Sherri Lonon, Patch staff, contributed to this report.

Photos courtesy of the National Hurricane Center