He Hurricane Lee gains strength and reaches Category 5 with winds that could reach maximum speeds of 160 miles per hour (257 kilometers per hour) as it approaches from the Atlantic towards the eastern Caribbean, the US National Hurricane Center (NHC) reported this Thursday evening.

According to the latest NHC report, the hurricane was approximately 1127 kilometers east from the north of the Leeward Islands (a group of islands within the Lesser Antilles).

Thus, according to forecasts, Lee could record its maximum intensity with strong waves and currents. over the weekend and will move into the southwest Atlantic on Monday or Tuesday, when it will be confirmed whether it will finally touch the US mainland.

Lee formed on Tuesday in the mid-Atlantic. It became a Category 1 hurricane this Wednesday. and this Thursday it rose to category 2, and a few hours later to 5, the maximum on the Saffir-Simpson intensity scale.

This powerful hurricane will generate in its path “big waves” and “dangerous tides”According to NHC. No coastal warnings or advisories have been issued so far, but the Lesser Antilles remains closely monitoring Lee’s development.

NHC meteorologists based in Miami warned that dangerous waves caused by the hurricane will reach the British and US Virgin Islands. Puerto Rico, Bahamas, Hispaniola and Bermuda. this weekend.

In an update released Aug. 10, the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) predicted an “above-normal” Atlantic hurricane season with 14 to 21 tropical storms, of which 6 to 11 will be hurricanes.

EFE