Hurricane Lee now ‘extremely dangerous’ Category 5 storm – live

Within the Pacific, Hurricane Jova churned by way of open waters removed from Mexico’s southwest coast as a Class 4 storm. It posed no menace to land.

It was situated about 600miles (965km) southwest of the southern tip of Baja, California, and was shifting west-northwest at 17mph (28kph) with winds as much as 145mph (230kph). The storm was anticipated to begin to weaken beginning late on Thursday or early Friday.

Whereas all eyes are on quickly intensifying Hurricane Lee, one other tropical storm has fashioned within the Atlantic, the Nationwide Hurricane Middle reported.

Tropical Storm Margot is anticipated to turn out to be a hurricane over the weekend, the NHC stated,

The storm was noticed about 355 miles west of The Cabo Verde Islands with most sustained winds of 40 mph. It was shifting west-northwest at 16 mph.

Hurricane Lee is at present packing sustained winds of 160mph, making it a Class 5 tropical storm, which is about to accentuate additional to 180mph.

Lee is the primary storm since Hurricane Ian final yr to realize the Class 5 standing and solely 38 different Atlantic hurricanes have reached Class 5 depth over the previous 100 years.

Hurricane Lee is being termed “one of many quickest” if not the fastest-developing storm ever recorded within the Atlantic, because it went from Class 1 on Thursday morning to Class 5 by the day’s finish.

The storm is anticipated to accentuate additional to achieve wind speeds of 180mph by Friday morning.

Here is how Lee’s fast intensification performed out:

Lee was a Class 1 storm with 80 mph winds at 5am ET on Thursday. Inside 12 hours, its most sustained winds had elevated to 130 mph, making it a Class 4 storm on the Saffir-Simpson depth scale.By 11pm ET, the storm’s most sustained winds had been 160 mph, making it now a Class 5 hurricane.The storm’s most sustained winds elevated by simply over 80 mph in 24 hours, in response to the NHC. The escalation tremendously exceeds the 35 mph enhance wanted to suit the definition of fast intensification.

Hurricane Lee has gone by way of a fast intensification within the Atlantic’s heat waters over the day on Thursday and is now a Class 5 storm with fears that it might develop even stronger.

This time-lapse from Cooperative Institute for Analysis in Ambiance (CIRA) reveals the 12 hour course of, from dawn to sundown, of Lee changing into Class 4 from Class 1.

Lee’s fast strengthening right into a Class 5 hurricane on Thursday has made it one of many “quickest intensifying Atlantic hurricanes ever noticed”, specialists stated, because the Nationwide Hurricane Middle warned the storm might intensify additional by Friday morning.

“Hurricane #Lee has explosively intensified right into a Class 5 storm and is anticipated to peak as a monster 180mph Cat 5,” Colin McCarthy, who tracks tropical storms, wrote on X, previously often known as Twitter.

Specialists have warned that if Lee intensifies additional and reaches 180mph pace, it will solely be the ninth storm within the Atlantic to achieve that stage.

“If that occurs, it will put Lee in an elite membership, with 8 different storms reaching 180mph. 5 Atlantic hurricanes on document have had stronger winds,” meteorologist Jeff Berardelli wrote.

Hurricane Lee quickly intensified to a Class 5 storm on Thursday evening because it churned in direction of Caribbean islands with “life-threatening” circumstances anticipated to develop within the coming days.

The Nationwide Hurricane Middle stated in its 11pm advisory that the storm might undergo “additional strengthening” in a single day, which might make it one of many rarest hurricanes within the Atlantic.

Lee was situated about 705 miles (1,135km) east of the northern Leeward Islands and packing most sustained winds of 160mph (260kph).

After three years of the cooler La Nina sample, which regularly lowers international temperatures barely, the WMO introduced on Tuesday that El Nino circumstances had been current and are anticipated to regularly strengthen into the winter.

The final important El Nino occasion occurred in 2016, which has gone down because the warmest yr the world has seen since information started.

Its recurrence in 2023, when international heating pushed by man-made carbon emissions has solely accelerated, threatens a “double whammy”, in response to the WMO, which has warned there’s a 90 per cent likelihood of it lasting to the yr’s finish.

Meaning the probability of maximum climate occasions that would show life-threatening has additionally elevated, prompting the organisation’s officers to warning world governments that they should be ready.

The Nationwide Ocean and Atmospheric Administration warned in August that this yr’s season would produce an above-normal variety of storms. Between 14 to 21 named storms are forecast. Of these, six to 11 might turn out to be hurricanes, with two to 5 of them probably changing into main hurricanes, the company stated.

In the meantime, AccuWeather up to date its forecast, predicting there could be three to 5 hurricanes Class 3 or stronger this season, in contrast with one to 3 in its earlier evaluation.