Hurricane Lee windfield expands as storm tracks towards New England and Atlantic Canada

Hurricane Lee is expected to bring tropical storm force winds to Bermuda as of early tomorrow, with the system on course for a New England or Atlantic Canada landfall in around four days’ time.

Lee is expected to be a post-tropical cyclone by the time it reaches the mainland, but the National Hurricane Center (NHC) has cautioned this will not diminish the storm’s wind, rain and coastal flooding impacts across the region.

Due to Lee’s large size, the NHC has warned hazards will likely extend well away from the centre of the storm, with little to no significance in where the centre of the storm comes ashore.

Lee is currently a Category 3 hurricane, with hurricane force winds extending up to 115 miles from its centre. While slow weakening is forecast over the next few days, the NHC said Lee will remain a large and dangerous hurricane into the weekend.

Lee previously reached Category 5 intensity on 7 September with maximum sustained winds of 165 mph, later weakening to Category 2 before regaining major hurricane status on 10 September.

Lee is the 13th named storm, fourth hurricane and third major hurricane of the 2023 Atlantic season. The 14th named storm and fifth hurricane, Margot, is also currently active in the Central Atlantic but currently poses no threat to land.

Last year Hurricane Fiona became the costliest storm on record to impact Atlantic Canada. The Insurance Bureau of Canada has estimated insured losses from the storm at C$800mn ($590mn).

However, reinsurance broker Guy Carpenter has said Lee is unlikely to cause a repeat of this level of loss. “Lee will pale in comparison to Fiona’s damage a year earlier in Canada,” the broker said.