Jose is a Category 1 storm moving northwest with sustained winds of 90 mph. Places on the East Coast from North Carolina to New England could feel effects.
- Hurricane Jose is traveling up the East Coast, but likely won't make landfall in the US.
- Maria has strengthened from a tropical storm to a hurricane, threatening the Caribbean islands that Hurricane Irma just ravaged.
- Tropical Depression Lee is making its way across the Atlantic Ocean, marking an unusually active hurricane season.
Hurricane Jose is traveling up the East Coast of the US and could affect an area from North Carolina to New England, according to the latest forecast from the National Hurricane Center (NHC).
It's still far more likely than not that Jose will stay out at sea, but the NHC reported at 11 a.m. ET on Sunday that parts of the US are already feeling effects from the storm as its swells generate dangerous surf and rip currents.
Later on Sunday, the NHC issued a tropical storm watch for two areas in the northeast: from Fenwick Island, Delaware, to Sandy Hook, New Jersey; and from East Rockaway Inlet, New York, to Plymouth, Massachusetts. The area under the storm watch includes Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket.
The edge of Jose may graze Rhode Island and Massachusetts on Wednesday or Thursday, but that forecast may change. Its eye will likely stay offshore.
Jose was at one point a powerful almost-Category 5 storm that menaced parts of the Caribbean that had already taken the brunt of Hurricane Irma. But Jose turned north and spun a loop in the Atlantic, weakening to tropical storm status before picking up strength again and heading toward the East Coast.
On Sunday, Jose was again a Category 1 hurricane. At this point, Jose, which has maximum sustained winds of 90 mph, is moving north at 9 mph. An Air Force hurricane hunter plane found the storm had strengthened since Saturday morning.
The storm is expected to remain a hurricane through Tuesday, the NHC said, then weaken to a tropical storm.
Swells from Jose are already affecting the Bahamas, Bermuda, and the US east coast. They're expected to move up the Mid-Atlantic over the next few days, producing dangerous surf and rip current conditions.
Hurricane Maria
The weather service announced Sunday evening that Maria has officially strengthened from a tropical storm to a hurricane.
The difference between the two designations is wind speed — an Air Force hurricane hunter plane measured Maria's winds at a maximum sustained speed of 75 mph on Sunday. The threshold for hurricane designation is 74 mph.
Maria threatens the same islands that Hurricane Irma ravaged a week ago. The storm will likely make landfall in the Leeward Islands on Monday, and possibly hit Puerto Rico and Hispaniola as a major hurricane on Wednesday.
Hurricane warnings are in effect for Dominica, Guadeloupe, St. Kitts, Nevis, and Montserrat. Tropical storm warnings for this system have been issued for Antigua and Barbuda, Saba and St. Eustatius, St. Lucia and Martinique.
Hurricane watches are in effect for the US Virgin Islands, British Virgin Islands, Saba and St. Eustatius, St. Maarten, St. Martin and St. Barthelemy, and Anguilla. And a tropical storm watch is in effect for Barbados and St. Vincent and the Grenadines.
The NHC is also keeping an eye on newly formed Tropical Depression Lee, which is crossing the Atlantic from Africa toward the Americas.
It's been an unusually active Atlantic hurricane season, and we're just now at the peak time for storm activity.
Mark Abadi contributed to this report.
Jose is a Category 1 storm moving northwest with sustained winds of 90 mph. Places on the East Coast from North Carolina to New England could feel effects. Read Full Story
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