Amazing Air Force Films INSIDE Hurricane Lee

• Amazing images have revealed the powerful eye of Hurricane Lee
• The twister increased from Category 1 to Category 5 overnight Thursday

Shocking images have revealed the thunderous eye of Hurricane Lee as it barrels towards the eastern seaboard – threatening to leave a trail of chaos in its wake after rising from Category 1 to Category 5 overnight.

The Air Force’s ‘Hurricane Hunters’, a team that monitors the weather, showed endless flashes of lightning illuminating the twister in a dramatic way. social media post on friday.

Hurricane Lee has been circling the Atlantic Ocean for days as it gathers steam, but forecasters have struggled to pinpoint its path and is not expected to make landfall until late next week.

While the East Coast braced for impact, New York City and Boston got an early taste of potential chaos as hurricane-force winds brought major storms Friday.

The Big Apple was hit by thunder and lightning, and clouds some local people found ‘creepy,’ while up the coast in Massachusetts trees and power lines were downed by strong winds.

Hurricane Lee was registered as a Category 1 Hurricane on Wednesday after it formed near the Leeward Islands in the Caribbean.

Forecasters were quick to warn that it has destructive potential, and alarming satellite forecasts caught it increasing in speed and strength on Thursday as it reached 160mph.

Earlier in the day, the twister registered speeds of around 80mph. After the storm moved around the Atlantic, waves reached up to 55 meters near the center, the National Hurricane Center found.

One reason for the rise is unusually warm waters over the Atlantic Ocean, which registered near 86 degrees Fahrenheit along its path, which meteorologists say are more similar to temperatures in the Gulf of Mexico than the Atlantic.

As of Friday evening, Lee remained off the US coast and was about 440 miles east of the Leeward Islands, moving northwest at 13 mph, according to the New York Times.

As it moved far to the southeast of the potential area, meteorologist and hurricane expert Michael Lowry warned that it had structures that could cause significant damage.

He said X (formerly Twitter) that ‘Lee is the most southeast Atlantic Category 5 hurricane since records began 172 years ago.’

Although landfall has limited any damage so far, the East Coast of the United States could begin seeing dangerous surf conditions as early as Sunday, according to the National Hurricane Center.

‘Further variation is possible over the next few days, however Lee is expected to continue as a major hurricane early next week,’ the NHC said on Friday.

Meteorologists seem to be going back and forth on whether the hurricane will hit the East Coast or turn around. On Wednesday, the NHC warned: ‘Most of the intensity models are very aggressive, bringing Lee to major storm status for the week.’

In a forecast discussion Friday, the center backed away from that forecast, admitting it’s too early to know what level of impacts, if any, Lee may have on the US East Coast, Atlantic Canada, or Bermuda in the near future. week’.

The forecaster added that this could come as ‘the hurricane is expected to slow significantly in the southwest Atlantic.’

Spaghetti models of Hurricane Lee’s path – maps that show computer simulations of where the storm’s center could be over several days, given a range of variables – show Lee turning northeast and moving up the East Coast.

Similar comfort models have gone horribly wrong in the past, however. In 2017, meteorologists predicted that Hurricane Irma would turn toward the sea, before it hit Florida’s Gulf Coast and killed 92 people.

The National Hurricane Center said on Friday that the storm had ‘incredible strength,’ and that it had grown far beyond its initial strength.

While other areas in the storm’s potential path are showing no signs of wet and wild weather — with Washington DC enjoying some blustery weather Friday evening — currents from the hurricane were cited as fueling storms that hit over the weekend.

More than 200 flights were canceled at JFK, Newark and LaGuardia airports, according to FlightAware, on Friday as thunderstorms moved in.

As the thunderstorms rolled in, residents took to social media to share images of ominous clouds filling the New York sky in a sign of what was predicted to come.

Reports indicate that trees and power lines were downed in New Jersey, and a severe thunderstorm watch was issued for almost all of the third region until 11pm on Friday.

Flood warnings have also been issued for large parts of the Hudson Valley after a period of dry and hot conditions.

Much of Massachusetts remains under a major thunderstorm watch, covering Middlesex, Essex, Franklin, Hampden, and Hampshire counties.

In Hoopsick Falls, New York, the town’s mayor urged residents to stay indoors as a powerful storm hit the community of 3,000 people on Thursday.

Downed trees and power lines were also reported in the area, as crews worked throughout the day to clear roads after they were blocked by debris.

Storm damage was seen in Boxborough, Massachusetts – about 40 kilometers from Boston – where many power lines and tree limbs were brought down by high winds.