Hurricane Jose is traveling up the East Coast and Maria may become a hurricane, threatening the same islands Irma …

The
National Weather Service’s forecast for Hurricane Jose on Sunday,
September 17, 2017 at 11 a.m.

NOAA

• Hurricane Jose is traveling up the East Coast, but
  likely won’t make landfall in the US.
• Tropical Storm Maria may soon become a hurricane,
  threatening the Caribbean islands that Hurricane Irma just
  ravaged.
• Tropical Depression Lee is making its way across the
  Atlantic Ocean, marking an unusually active hurricane
  season.

Hurricane
Jose is traveling up the East Coast of the US and could
affect an area from North Carolina to New England, according to
the latest forecast from the National Hurricane Center (NHC).

It’s still far more likely than not that Jose will stay out at
sea, but the
NHC reported at 11 a.m. ET on Sunday that parts of the US are
already feeling effects from the storm as its swells generate
dangerous surf and rip currents.

The edge of Jose may graze Rhode Island and Massachusetts on
Wednesday or Thursday, but that forecast may change. Its eye will
likely stay offshore.

It’s possible that tropical storm watches will be needed for some
section of the Mid-Atlantic or Northeast within the next day or
two.

Jose was at one point a powerful almost-Category 5 storm that

menaced parts of the Caribbean that had already taken the

brunt of Hurricane Irma. But Jose turned north and spun a
loop in the Atlantic, weakening to tropical storm status before
picking up strength again and heading toward the East Coast.

On Sunday, Jose was again a Category 1 hurricane. At this point,
Jose, which has maximum sustained winds of 90 mph, is moving
north at 9 mph. An Air Force hurricane hunter plane found the
storm had strengthened since Saturday morning.

The storm is expected to remain a hurricane through Tuesday, the
NHC said, then weaken to a tropical storm.

Swells from Jose are already affecting the Bahamas, Bermuda, and
the US east coast. They’re expected to move up the Mid-Atlantic
over the next few days, producing dangerous surf and rip current
conditions.

Tropical Storm Maria

The weather service also
issued an advisory for Tropical Storm Maria,
warning that it will likely become a hurricane Sunday night.

At 2 p.m. on Sunday, an Air Force hurricane hunter plane was
flying into the storm to take new measurements, and Maria was
traveling northwest at 15 mph with maximum sustained winds of 65
mph. Once it crosses the 74 mph mark, it becomes a hurricane.

Maria threatens the same islands that Hurricane
Irma ravaged a week ago. The storm will likely make landfall
in the Leeward Islands on Monday, and possibly hit Puerto Rico
and Hispaniola as a major hurricane on Wednesday.

Tropical
storm Maria’s projected path.

NOAA

Hurricane warnings are in effect for Dominica and Guadeloupe.
Tropical storm warnings for this system have been issued for St.
Lucia and Martinique.

Hurricane watches are in effect for Antigua, Barbuda, St. Kitts,
Nevis, Montserrat, Saba and St. Eustatius, St. Martin, St.
Barthelemy, and Anguilla.

The NHC is also keeping an eye on newly formed Tropical Depression Lee, which
is crossing the Atlantic from Africa
toward the Americas.

It’s been an
unusually active Atlantic hurricane season, and we’re just
now at the peak time for storm activity.