Tropical Storm Lee: Projected path, maps and hurricane tracker

(NEW YORK) — Tropical Storm Lee is forecast to strengthen into a hurricane on Wednesday as it traverses over the waters of the Atlantic Ocean.

The tropical storm formed some 1,300 miles east of the Lesser Antilles in the Caribbean Sea on Tuesday.

Lee is expected to intensify into a major hurricane on Thursday night or early Friday.

Over the weekend, the storm is forecast to pass north of Puerto Rico, bringing some high surf and rip currents to the Caribbean but not any extreme weather.

Next week, Lee is expected to turn north and become an extremely strong hurricane with maximum sustained wind speeds of 150 miles per hour, which would make it a Category 4 storm.

There is currently no direct threat to the United States, but Bermuda needs to keep an eye on the potentially major hurricane.

Most spaghetti models show Lee moving near Bermuda next week and eventually heading north, paralleling the eastern U.S. coastline.

Very high surf and dangerous rip currents are expected along the East Coast later next week.