Lee Becomes Category 5 Hurricane: See Latest NJ Forecast

NEW JERSEY - Garden State residents may start to feel the impact of Hurricane Lee as early as Sunday as the fierce system picks up speed in the Atlantic as a Category 5 storm, the highest level on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale.

After strengthening overnight, Lee is slated to move north of the northern Leeward Islands, Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico through early next week, according to the National Hurricane Center. As of Friday morning, Lee is barreling through the Atlantic with maximum sustained winds of 165 mph - up from 80 mph just 24 hours ago - moving north-northwest about 630 miles east of the northern Leeward Islands.

It's the Atlantic basin's first Category 5 hurricane of the season.

The National Hurricane Center said life-threatening rip currents could start in the northern Leeward Islands starting Friday, affecting Puerto Rico, Turks and Caicos, the Bahamas, Bermuda and Hispaniola throughout the weekend.

This is one of the most impressive rapid intensification episodes I've ever seen in the Atlantic. Hurricane #Lee went from having no eye this morning to possibly Cat 5 intensity this evening. Absolutely incredible. pic.twitter.com/49NmtkIJO2
? Dr. Levi Cowan (@TropicalTidbits) September 8, 2023

?It is way too soon to know what level of impacts, if any, Lee might have along the U.S. East Coast,? the weather service said, especially as the hurricane is slated to slow ?considerably? over the southwestern Atlantic before it likely reaches the East Coast region late next week.

Once it does reach the western Atlantic, heavy rain, gusty winds and storm surge won?t be out of the question for the northeast U.S., according to AccuWeather."Right now, the area in the United States that really needs to pay attention includes locations from the upper part of the mid-Atlantic coast to New England," AccuWeather Chief Broadcast Meteorologist Bernie Rayno said.

Several key factors will play a role in Lee?s path towards - or away from - the Garden State: Wind direction and jet stream dips, as well as the timing of when Lee spins out to the north, will all help determine its impact on New Jersey.

?Regardless, dangerous surf and rip currents are expected along most of the U.S. East Coast beginning Sunday,? National Hurricane Center forecasters said. ?Continue to monitor updates to Lee?s forecast during the next several days.?

The Garden State largely avoided Hurricane Idalia impacts over Labor Day weekend, save for dangerous rip currents that led to at least two drownings and multiple rescues in Cape May, Belmar and Seaside Park.

Higher-than-normal ocean surface temperatures could also make hurricanes more likely this season, New Jersey State Climatologist David Robinson told NorthJersey.com.

Lee is the 12th storm to form in the Atlantic in 2023, per The New York Times. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration predicted a "near-normal" number of named storms this year - somewhere between 12 and 17, the outlet reported. The number, however, was revised upward last month to 14 to 21 storms.