Tropical Storm Nigel strengthens into a hurricane

• Hurricane Nigel strengthens off the East Coast.
• The NHC predicts the storm will continue to grow.
• Will it be stronger than Hurricane Lee?

Tropical Storm Nigel, which formed in the open waters of the Atlantic, continued to strengthen over the weekend.

The National Hurricane Center (NHC) reports that it will continue to gain strength and move northward.

The center of Nigel was located 990 miles (1,595 km) northeast of the Lesser Antilles and 1,115 miles (1,790 km) east-southeast of the Bermuda Islands.

At the moment it has maximum sustained winds of 85 miles per hour as it moves toward the northwest Atlantic.

Nigel becomes a hurricane

Nigel will likely become a hurricane on Monday morning and is expected to accelerate.

It should reach the peak of its strength by mid-week before starting to weaken.

The storm is moving northwest at 12 mph.

At the moment, there are no coastal watches or warnings in the states that would be affected by the arrival of the storm.

Will it be very intense?

According to the NHC track graph, Nigel will be a major hurricane (over 100 mph), and could become a Category 3.

The Saffir-Simpson scale is the system that establishes categories from 1 to 5 according to the intensity of a tropical cyclone.

Meanwhile, the National Hurricane Center issued its latest bulletin on Post-Tropical Storm Lee this Sunday.

It’s affecting parts of Maine and Nova Scotia in the next few hours.

How destructive was Hurricane Lee?

Lee’s maximum sustained winds are now near 45 mph (75 km/h) and it’s forecast to weaken.

This could occur over the next two days, so Lee could dissipate by Tuesday, the NHC said.

Post-tropical cyclone Lee made landfall on Saturday in Nova Scotia.

It left more than 90,000 subscribers without electricity in Maine.

Nigel will be a big hurricane

According to EFE, Nigel was formed from an eastern tropical wave moving over warm waters.

In the middle of the month it was classified by the National Hurricane Center as Tropical Depression 15.

This tropical storm is expected to gradually strengthen as it moves north-northwest in the coming days over open waters.

The 2023 hurricane season had been predicted to be less intense than last year.

Lee had a lot of intensity

Lee made landfall on Long Island, with maximum sustained winds of 70 mph (110 km/h), according to the NHC.

Since it became a hurricane on September 6 in the center of the Atlantic, Lee reached Category 5.

This category is the highest, on Saffir-Simpson Scale for tropical cyclones.

In addition, it left thousands of US residents without electricity.

The 2023 hurricane season

The National Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has said the Atlantic hurricane season is expected to be less active this year.

The normal forecast was for 14 named storms, seven of which will become hurricanes and three of which will become Category 3 or higher.

Last May, a natural meteorological event, El Niño, occurred which drastically reduces hurricane activity.

Forecasters reminded residents that it only takes one hurricane to hit their area for it to be a catastrophe.