What are the latest projections for Hurricane Lee and predictions for impact on Delaware?
Your social media accounts may be inundated with weather forecasts as Hurricane Lee intensifies, but make sure you’re not feeding into assumptions from users without needed expertise to make those claims.
Meteorologists have been tracking a tropical disturbance that evolved into Hurricane Lee late last week, and is currently as Category 3 storm on Monday.
Before even the early path of the tropical storm was clear, videos on TikTok claiming certain outcomes of the storm or forecasting potential at-risk areas gained traction, many of which come from users who do not have the educational background to make these predictions.
With all the misinformation floating around on the internet, here’s what we know.
Where is Hurricane Lee headed?
Hurricane Lee was slowly moving northwest in the Atlantic Ocean with sustained winds near 120 miles per hour as a Category 3 storm Monday morning, according to the latest advisory from the National Hurricane Center.
It’s too soon to know the full impact Lee could have along the United States East Coast, since Lee is “expected to slow down considerably over the southwestern Atlantic,” the hurricane center said.
Hurricane Lee Tracker
This forecast track shows the most likely path of the center of the storm, but does not illustrate the full width of the storm or its impacts. The center of the storm is likely to travel outside the cone up to 33% of the time.
Hurricane Lee spaghetti models
Will Delaware be impacted by the storm at all?
While it may be tempting to give in to the viral, easily accessible storm assumptions on social media timelines, leaving weather forecasts to the experts instead of TikTok users is your best bet when it comes to inclement weather and natural disaster predictions.
Severe weather predictions directly related to the storm have not been made for the region, which an anticipate a few scattered thunderstorms so far according to this week's forecast.
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“At this point, all indications are that it will probably recurve to the north and head away from the coast, but we’ll really need to watch it because it looks like it’s gonna be a very strong hurricane,” said Alex Dodd last week, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Mount Holly, New Jersey. He added that there’s “no reason to panic.”
Is there anything Delaware should prepare for?
Even without a significant weather threat approaching the area, there are still a few things to keep in mind.
When tropical cyclones push swells toward the coast, this can result in enhanced rip current risk, said Dodd.
With several reported deaths due to rip currents this year, and some over Labor Day weekend, this is something people should be cautious of if they plan on spending a day at the beach during this storm system.
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“When what will become Hurricane Lee comes closer, the risk of rip currents will increase,” said Dodd. “That is much more likely to be a threat to lives. Anybody going in the surf who is not a particularly strong swimmer, not prepared to deal with rip currents, could be in trouble there.”
Francisco Guzman contributed to this story.
Got a tip or a story idea? Contact Krys'tal Griffin at kgriffin@delawareonline.com.
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This article originally appeared on Delaware News Journal: Will Hurricane Storm Lee impact Delaware? What to know now
