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Tropical Storm Lee strengthens into a hurricane, churns across Atlantic towards Caribbean

Published:Thursday | September 7, 2023 | 12:07 AM
This Tuesday, Aug. 29, 2023, 1:31 p.m. EDT satellite image provided by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration shows Hurricane Idalia, center, approaching Florida’s Gulf Coast, and Hurricane Franklin, right, as it moves along the East coast o
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This Tuesday, Aug. 29, 2023, 1:31 p.m. EDT satellite image provided by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration shows Hurricane Idalia, center, approaching Florida’s Gulf Coast, and Hurricane Franklin, right, as it moves along the East coast of the United States, southwest of Bermuda.

SAN JUAN (AP):

Tropical Storm Lee strengthened into a hurricane on Wednesday as it churned through the open waters of the Atlantic on a path that would take it near the northeast Caribbean.

The hurricane was located about 1,130 miles (1,815 kilometres) east of the northern Leeward Islands. It had maximum sustained winds of 75 mph (120 kph) and was moving west-northwest at 14 mph (22 kph), according to the National Hurricane Centre.

Current projections show it not making landfall but passing just northeast of the British Virgin Islands, which is still recovering from hurricanes Maria and Irma in September 2017.

Lee is the 12th named storm of the Atlantic hurricane season, which runs from June 1 to Nov 30.