The latest update now puts Hurricane Lee 340 miles southeast of Nantucket. The outer rain bands are currently approaching southern New England and the storm will continue moving north into the Gulf of Maine Saturday. The track of the landfall means very little right now, as the wind field is expanding. Hurricane-force wind extends 105 miles from the center and tropical storm force wind extend outward up to 320 miles.
The top 3 impacts from Lee are damaging wind, beach erosion and flooding rains. A large wind field will lead to scattered outages, especially for Down East Maine. Beach erosion will impact the entire Maine coastline with long duration swells, as well as large waves up to 20 feet or more. Flash flooding is possible for eastern and Down East, with 1 to 3 inches or more of rain expected Saturday.
Wind is the biggest wild card with this storm, as we have fully leafed trees and saturated soils lowering our wind threshold.
Gusts at peak storm Saturday will be in the 35 to 50+ mph range for a good chunk of the coastline and Down East.
The main reason tropical storm warnings are up for the coastline and part of inland locations is because of the threat of wind.
Rainfall is also a concern due to saturated soils with several inches expected in Down East.
Here’s an hour by hour look at the latest forecast:
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