Lee Brought Gusty Winds, Rain, Large Waves To Eastern Canada, Parts Of New England

Lee became the 13th storm of the 2023 Atlantic hurricane season on September 7th and the fourth hurricane of the season the following day. That was over a week ahead of the average fourth hurricane pace of Sept. 16, according to National Hurricane Center data.

L​ee's history dates back to Africa at the beginning of September. It was a classic Cabo Verde hurricane that took about two weeks to reach Canada.

L​ee then underwent explosive rapid intensification, going from a Category 1 to a Category 5 hurricane in just 18 hours on Sept 7. Only three other Atlantic hurricanes since 1982 had seen their winds increase by 80 mph in 24 hours or less since 1982, most recently Matthew in 2016. It was the fastest 24-hour intensification anywhere in the Atlantic Basin outside the Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean Sea in 41 years, according to Kieran Bhatia, a Princeton University scientist.

Sustained winds of 160 mph were recorded by hurricane reconnaissance on the evening of Sept. 7th, making it the first Category 5 hurricane since Ian in 2022. Prior to Lee, only 39 other Atlantic hurricanes have reached Category 5 intensity over the past 100 years.

L​ee quickly weakened to a Category 2 on September 9th because of increased wind shear. It then gained strength again late the following day and returned to Category 3 intensity.

S​wells climbed along the entire U.S. East Coast as Lee moved northward. Minor coastal erosion and increased wave activity was seen from Florida to Maine. Here's a look at waves along the North Carolina coast.

Lee passed 200 miles west of Bermuda on Sept. 14 as a Category 1 hurricane with winds of 85 mph. T​he hurricane tracked near NOAA buoy 41048, located west-southwest of Bermuda and observed wind gusts up to 92 mph and wave heights over 30 feet. Bermuda clocked wind gusts over 50 mph.

H​urricane Lee continued tracking northward and completed its transition to a post-tropical cyclone on the morning of September 16 near Canada.

P​ost-Tropical Cyclone Lee made landfall at 4 p.m. on Long Island in far western Nova Scotia with winds of around 70 mph.

U​.S. Impacts

W​aves began to increase on September 15th on Long Island and in southern New England, and reached highs early the following morning. A storm surge of around two feet was recorded in Boston Harbor and 2.5 feet on Cape Cod and in Nantucket. M​inor flooding was observed on Easy Street in Nantucket Harbor.

A wind gust up to 63 mph was reported during the morning hours of Sept. 16 at Woods Hole, Massachusetts and at Knox, Maine. A wind gust of 56 mph was measured in Bangor, Maine, during the afternoon hours.

The storm was so big that it caused power outages several hundred miles from its center. At midday on Sept. 16, 11% of electricity customers in Maine lacked power, along with 27% of Nova Scotia, 8% of New Brunswick and 3% of Prince Edward Island, according to the Associated Press.

W​aves were stirred up along the coast of Maine on September 16th as Lee swirled to the east. A storm surge of around two feet was recorded from Portsmouth, New Hampshire northward to Bar Harbor, Maine.

H​eavy rainfall grazed eastern Massachusetts, then soaked eastern Maine. Rainfall gauges in Washington and Hancock Counties received 3-6 inches of rain.

C​anada Impacts

H​igh waves and some minor coastal inundation occurred in Peggy's Cove, near Halifax, Canada, early on Sept. 16 as Lee approached.

A wind gust to 60 mph was reported in Halifax, Nova Scotia, during the afternoon of Sept. 16. A sustained wind of 51 mph with a gust to 93 mph was reported on Grand Manan Island.

W​hile Lee skirted Yarmouth, Canada, to the west, it was close enough to break a low pressure record for the month of September.

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