The National Hurricane Center has issued a hurricane watch from Stonington eastward to the Canadian border, and a tropical storm watch for the remainder of the Maine coast.
The latest track, issued at 5 p.m. Wednesday, shows the storm swinging slightly farther east than had been forecast earlier in the day, making contact most directly with the Bay of Fundy and Canadian Maritimes.
According to the center, a hurricane watch indicates possible hurricane conditions within 48 hours. The storm's center is expected to make its Maine approach midday Saturday into Sunday.
As much as 3-6 inches of rain are currently in the forecast for parts of Maine and New Brunswick, as well as high winds and flooding. Gov. Janet Mills and the Maine Emergency Management Agency issued a statement Wednesday urging caution and preparedness ahead of the storm.
Here's the latest on the storm from the National Hurricane Center, as of 11 a.m. Thursday:
"At 1100 AM AST (1500 UTC), the center of Hurricane Lee was located near latitude 30.4 North, longitude 68.3 West. Lee is moving toward the north near 14 mph (22 km/h) and this general motion with an increase in forward speed is expected through Saturday. A turn toward the north-northeast and then northeast is forecast Saturday night and Sunday. On the forecast track, the center of Lee will pass west of Bermuda today and tonight, approach the coast of New England and Atlantic Canada Friday and Saturday, and move across Atlantic Canada Saturday night and Sunday
Data from Air Force Reserve and NOAA reconnaissance aircraft indicate that the maximum sustained winds are near 90 mph (150 km/h) with higher gusts. Weakening is forecast, but Lee is expected to remain a large and dangerous hurricane for the next couple of days
Lee is a large hurricane. Hurricane-force winds extend outward up to 90 miles (150 km) from the center and tropical-storm-force winds extend outward up to 310 miles (500 km). A wind gust of 48 mph (78 km/h) has recently been reported at the L.F. Wade International Airport on Bermuda. NOAA buoy 41048 located about 130 miles (210 km) northwest of the center of Lee has recently reported a peak one-minute sustained wind of 54 mph (86 km/h) and a gust to 67 mph (107 km/h)
The latest minimum central pressure estimated from reconnaissance aircraft data is 956 mb (28.23 inches)."
