The Tribune

By LEANDRA ROLLE

Tribune Staff Reporter

lrolle@tribunemedia.net

A WEATHER official is urging residents to monitor the progression of newly formed Tropical Storm Lee, which is forecast to become a major hurricane at the end of the week.

As of Tuesday afternoon, the system was moving west-northwest at 16mph with sustained winds of 45mph. 

 “This motion is expected to continue for the next few days with a slight reduction in forward speed,” the Bahamas Department of Meteorology said in an advisory on Facebook.

 Chief Meteorological Officer Kaylinda Ward-Forbes told The Tribune yesterday the storm could intensify into a major hurricane by the weekend.

 However, she said it’s too early to tell whether the system would seriously impact The Bahamas.

 “It’s forecasted to become a major hurricane which is a hurricane on the scale of Category Three at 111mph or higher. It’s expected to reach that speed possibly by the weekend but by that time, it’s still projected to be over waters, over the Atlantic. It will be just to the north and north north east of the Antilles and Puerto Rico area,” she added.

 “So most of the models, all of the models have the system staying out to sea which is a good thing for us. It will possibly move closest to The Bahamas which is the southeastern Bahamas possibly Sunday or Monday sometime so what we expect for The Bahamas is possibly swell activity.”

 “At this time, it poses no threat to any land mass and we’re just asking everyone to monitor the system because sometimes they do change course so stay tuned to your local met office for updates to the forecast on these system.”

She also urged Bahamians to remain prepared because this is peak hurricane season.

 The 2023 hurricane season runs from June 1 to November 30.