Tornado warning issued for RI + Hurricane Lee's predicted path

Editor's Note: For our most recent coverage of Hurricane Lee and it's predicted path, read 'Despite tropical storm watch, Hurricane Lee expected to pass offshore. What to know.'

The tropical storm watch was issued Wednesday for much of coastal New England, Watch Hill to Stonington, Maine, and including Block Island, Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket. The National Hurricane Center and National Weather Service see "an increasing risk of wind, coastal flooding and rain impacts from Lee in portions of New England."

Meanwhile, Southern New England faces another round of flooding today.

Tornado warning issued for Rhode Island

Late Wednesday, the National Weather Service issues a tornado warning

"Tornado Warning continues for Greenville RI, Chepachet RI and Harmony RI"

On their website, the National Weather Service goes on to say, "Tornado Warning for: East central Windham County, in northern Connecticun, Western Providence County in Rhode Island."

The warning has been extended to 6:30 p.m.

"At 409 PM EDT, a severe thunderstorm capable of producing a tornado was located near Foster, or 10 miles northeast of Plainfield, moving east at 25 mph."

More: What should you do in a tornado warning? Here's a guide.

Will Hurricane Lee hit Rhode Island, Massachusetts?

Forecasters are not expecting Lee to make a landfall in Southern New England, but "the trend over the last 12 hours in most of the guidance has been to the west (aka toward SNE) which would increase the likelihood of significant impact to our region," the weather service says in its morning forecast discussion.

The storm may pass close enough to Southern New England to bring strong winds and heavy rain to Southern New England as early as Friday night into Saturday, the weather service says.

More: Here's what you should do to prepare if a hurricane hits RI

Where will Hurricane Lee make landfall?

A 5 a.m. graphic from the National Hurricane Center shows the center of Lee as a tropical storm making landfall in Maine or Canada at 2 a.m. Sunday.

The National Hurricane Center says, "Due to Lee's large size, hazards will extend well away from the center, and there will be little to no significance on exactly where the center reaches the coast."

Watches, noting the risk for hazardous weather, may be required for parts of New England later today or tonight, the National Hurricane Center said.

Hurricane Lee tracker: Rhode Island encouraged to monitor path of Category 3 storm

Along the shore, expect big waves and rip currents.

"Regardless of exact path, Lee continues to push a lot of energy north into our southern/southeaster facing beaches. This will result in wave heights as high as 15-20 ft on our outer eastern waters by Saturday with 10-15 ft waves for the inner waters," the weather service says. "For that reason rip currents will be a big danger late week/weekend."

Where is Hurricane Lee now?

As of 5 a.m., Lee was a Category 3 hurricane with sustained winds of 115 mph. It was about 475 miles south-southwest of Bermuda moving northwest at 6 mph.

Before any potential impact from Lee, Southern New England faces more potential flooding today.

With the ground saturated from recent rain in many areas, Rhode Island and other parts of Southern New England could see more flooding today with heavy rain and thunderstorms again in the forecast, according to the National Weather Service.

Keep an eye on the storm: Traffic and beach cams let you see weather conditions around the state

Keeping an eye on the storm from Block Island

Like a lot of other people on Block Island, Renee Dwyer and her boyfriend, Dan Roache, have been "keeping an eye" on the forecast. Dwyer and Roache have been living and sailing on a 46-foot Leopard Catamaran for the past 3.5 years.

They left Block Island Wednesday morning, sailing for Connecticut. On the water Wednesday morning, Dwyer said conditions were "fine." They spent almost a month on Block Island and their decision to leave took both the storm and the season winding down into consideration, Dwyer said.

They're "playing it safe" and plan to head inland, sailing part way up the Connecticut River to Essex, Dwyer said.

"Hopefully, the storm veers" away from New England, she said.

Operators of the Block Island Ferry are also paying close attention to the forecasts.

"We are closely monitoring the track of Hurricane Lee and the effects it may have on our ferry operations," Interstate Navigation said on the ferry's website. "If you are planning on traveling with us Friday through Sunday, please continue to check our website for the latest information."

Flash flood warning issued for parts of Rhode Island

The weather service issued a flash flood warning starting at 12:14 p.m. today for Bristol County and parts of Kent and Providence counties, as well as parts of Massachusetts.

"Doppler radar indicated thunderstorms producing heavy rain across the warned area. The expected rainfall rate is   1.5 to 2.5 inches in 1 hour. Additional rainfall amounts of 1 to 3 inches are possible in the warned area. Flash flooding is ongoing or expected to begin shortly," the warning says.

Earlier the weather service said, "Highly saturated conditions continue across much of Southern New England, and some locations are still recovering from severe flooding that occurred on Monday "A slow moving  frontal system moving in will bring another round of slow-moving downpours and embedded thunderstorms from west to east."

"This will worsen existing flooding and/or trigger new areas of flooding," the weather service says.

This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: Tropical storm watch issued for coastal New England: Hurricane Lee's path