Hurricane Lee was rapidly strengthening on Thursday as it churned towards Caribbean islands with “life-threatening” conditions expected to develop in the coming days.
Hurricane Lee is about 965 miles (1555km) east of the northern Leeward Islands, according to the 5am (eastern time) report from the National Hurricane Center (NHC) with maximum sustained winds of 80 miles per hour (130 kph).
“Rapid intensification is expected to begin later today, and Lee is forecast to become a major hurricane by early Friday,” NHC reported.
The Leeward Islands is the name for the group of islands located where the Caribbean Sea meets the Atlantic Ocean and includes Puerto Rico, the US and British Virgin Islands, and Antigua and Barbuda.
Current projections show Hurricane Lee will not make landfall but pass north 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 November 30.
