Hurricane Lee prompts weekend beach warnings on US east coast
Hurricane Lee is making its way through the Atlantic Ocean and is expected to remain a powerful hurricane through early next week, prompting warnings of dangerous beach conditions on the US east coast over the weekend.
Between Wednesday and Thursday night, Lee evolved from a category 1 tropical storm to a category 5 hurricane. It then dropped down to a category 4 hurricane, the National Hurricane Center announced on Friday morning.
The NHC warned that the core of Lee is expected to move well north of the northern Leeward Islands, the Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico this weekend and early next week.
The Leeward Islands sit where the Caribbean Sea meets the Atlantic Ocean and include Antigua and Barbuda, Guadeloupe and St Kitts and Nevis, among other islands.
The NHC added that it was too soon to know the scale of the impact Lee might have along the east coast of the US, Atlantic Canada and Bermuda late next week. Dangerous surf and rip currents are expected along the majority of the east coast starting on Sunday.
Although it remains unclear whether Lee will make landfall, the NHC is warning of dangerous swells that are expected to be generated by the hurricane.
“These swells are likely to cause lifethreatening surf and rip current conditions. Dangerous surf and rip currents are expected to begin along most of the US east coast beginning Sunday,” the NHC warned.
According to the United States Lifesaving Association, more than 100 deaths annually in the US are attributed to rip currents. As of 31 August, the National Weather Service has reported 75 fatalities in surf zones across the US.
Over Labor Day weekend, three people died after being caught in rip currents along the New Jersey shore. Meanwhile, more than 50 people at Hampton Beach in New Hampshire were rescued from rip currents.
Speaking to the Guardian, Stephen Leatherman, a coastal scientist and professor at Florida International University, urged beachgoers to exercise caution over the weekend amid Lee.
“Hurricane Lee is especially powerful in magnitude and very large … in size; therefore, it will generate large waves that can travel for thousands of miles with little loss of energy,” said Leatherman, adding: “The north shore of Puerto Rico is especially prone to rip currents, often with deadly consequences. There are about 30 rip currents drownings each year in Puerto Rico and few beaches have lifeguards.”
Leatherman went on to urge east coast beachgoers, including those on the Outer Banks of North Carolina and the Jersey Shore, to avoid going into the water this weekend, especially as rip currents can start in knee-deep water and can be very close to shore.
“Also, a lot of people go swimming where there are no lifeguards. I understand people trying to get away from the crowds, but frankly, if you’re out there in isolation and you don’t know anything about rip currents and [have] no one to help you, you get in trouble. And that’s when a lot of people drown,” he said.