Hurricane Lee to mostly miss Long Island as it heads up to Cape Cod, Maine, forecasters say

Hurricane Lee is headed northwest and growing into a huge storm, but it should stay east of Long Island as it moves up the East Coast, leaving dangerous rip currents and high surf at local beaches, according to the weather forecast. 

The hurricane's greatest effect is expected to be felt on the East End and should be "fairly benign," with a slight chance of showers and possibly heavier winds Saturday morning into later in the day, National Weather Service meteorologist Matt Wunsch said Wednesday afternoon. 

That weather, he said, "shouldn't be that crazy" on the Island, as long as Lee's path doesn't move further west. "The biggest impact that we're going to see from the hurricane is the enhanced waves and swell," he said. 

Weather on the Island is in contrast with the power of the hurricane elsewhere. 

Lee was a Category 2 with 105-mph maximum sustained winds about 370 miles SSW of Bermuda as of 8 p.m. Wednesday, according to a weather service advisory. "A continued [northward] turn is expected tonight, with an increase in forward speed as it moves [north] of Bermuda," the advisory said.

"Although Hurricane Lee is expected to continue to weaken late week into the weekend, its wind field is expected to significantly increase in size," it said.

Peak wind gusts for Long Island could reach 35 mph Friday into Saturday along the coast and up to 45 mph for the East End during the same time period, the advisory said.

There are tropical storm and hurricane watches in effect for the New England coast, which is at risk from the hurricane, as is Atlantic Canada later in the week and this weekend.

"The biggest news is that Lee is big," said Michael Brennan, acting deputy director of the National Hurricane Center, in a video advisory Wednesday.

"Impacts are going to be felt hundreds of miles away," he added, but the targets for landfall from Lee, as it moves up the coast, will be most likely Nantucket, Cape Cod and Downeast Maine.

The effects of Lee, high winds, heavy rain and pounding surf, will be felt in those areas Friday into Saturday, he said. 

Those days the storm will also make itself felt on Long Island through gusty winds, high waves, a strong undertow and "widespread dune erosion." While the forecast is for a sunny Friday and weekend, with temperatures in the 70s, local officials have said they are considering banning swimming on some beaches. 

The weather service has put out a high surf and rip current warning through 8 p.m. Saturday. In a 5 p.m. update, the hurricane center tweeted: "There is the potential for life-threatening storm surge flooding" from Lee.

Otherwise, said Wunsch: "It's not even really gonna be that bad, to be honest. It might just be a little breezy, but that's pretty standard as we get into fall." 

Earlier this week, Gov. Kathy Hochul's office said that she would deploy 50 New York National Guard personnel to begin storm preparations on the Island.

In addition to sending state personnel, her office said that assets such as bucket trucks and wood chippers were being readied "out of an abundance of caution … New Yorkers in coastal areas should watch the forecast and be ready to act, if necessary, to stay safe."

By Matthew Chayes

matthew.chayes@newsday.comchayesmatthew

Matthew Chayes, a Newsday reporter since 2007, covers New York City.