Lee is a hurricane. But, it's still too early to say if South Jersey is in danger
Lee is now a hurricane and is expected to impact tropic islands as the week progresses, but the verdict is still out on just how hard this storm will hit the Atlantic coast, if at all.
As of Sept. 11, "Lee could bring wind, rainfall, and high surf impacts to Bermuda later this week," according to the hurricane center.
Where is Hurricane Lee headed?
Storms can change courses and intensities on the model boards before coming to fruition, explained Patrick O'Hara, a meteorologist from the National Weather Service in Westampton.
As of Monday morning, the hurricane center warned of dangerous surf and life-threatening rip currents in portions of the tropics, like the Leeward Islands, Puerto Rico, Bahamas and Bermuda through this week.
Maximum sustained winds for the Category 3 hurricane were near 120 mph, and the next few days will see gradual strengthening before the storm starts to weaken.
According to the center, Lee will make a gradual turn toward the north by midweek.
For residents of the eastern United States, despite concern, it is still too soon to know just what impact Lee will have later in the week. According to forecasts, the hurricane is expected to "slow down considerably" as it moves over the southwestern Atlantic.
The hurricane center is, however, warning of dangerous surf and rip currents along the coast this week as Lee grows.
Spaghetti models for Hurricane Lee
Special note about spaghetti models: Illustrations include an array of forecast tools and models, and not all are created equal. The hurricane center uses only the top four or five highest-performing models to help make its forecasts.
More: With Lee at sea, hurricane season is in effect. Are you prepared?
TikTok tracking Hurricane Lee
The unclear path on the United States didn't stop some social media users from posting their predictions left and right.
TikTok users, many of whom are not meteorologists, were racking up views with their predictions and compilations of weather graphs and models during the storm's inception.
The hype around the hurricane has caused concerns and flashbacks online reminiscing on the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy which rocked the East Coast in October of 2012.
"People on social media will always pick up on something and then run with it, right? That's just the nature of the beast," said O'Hara.
The meteorologist encouraged people who may be worried about the storm system to listen to professionals and find news outlets that they trust to stay up to date with the most accurate information.
ABC Action News's Chief Meteorologist Denis Phillips took to TikTok to quell some of the concern stirred up by worried posters.
"[I'm] doing my best to rid the world of misinformation," Phillips said under a model of Lee.
"For the love of God, there's not going to be a megastorm that covers the Atlantic," Phillips captioned the video.
How are storms tracked?
Weather maps and models tracking storm systems and points of interest are constantly changing as new data is entered.
They track what could happen — not what necessarily will. This is why time and constant observation are crucial.
"We watch from satellite, and then usually what happens is all the observations from the entire world go into a computer model, which runs several times a day," O'Hara said.
He explained that America has a few models and so do other countries. "We all have different models. They run a couple times a day and then they kind of simulate how things are going to behave. ... And the models are usually good within the first couple days, but then, as with anything, it starts to get a little noise into it."
As far as tracking Lee, time is the greatest factor for getting new and accurate information.
So for now, just keep an eye on the forecast for any updates as the week progresses.
This article originally appeared on Cherry Hill Courier-Post: Will Hurricane Lee hit South Jersey? It's too early to tell
