As Maria and Lee move east, a new disturbance could bring flooding to the Lowcountry

As of the National Hurricane Center’s 11 a.m. Thursday update, Tropical Storm Maria and Hurricane Lee pose no danger to land, but a new system developing off the southern coast of Cuba has a chance to become the season’s next tropical cyclone.

Even if the system doesn’t develop, it is still expected to bring strong winds, which will increase tide levels and wave heights along the Lowcountry coast, the National Weather Service in Charleston reports. This could cause moderate to major coastal flooding.

Rip current risk will also increase with this system, which is currently given a 20 percent chance of developing into a tropical cyclone in the next two days and a 40 percent chance in the next five days. Beach erosion will be an issue as well.

The weather service noted that the outlined area for this disturbance is not a forecast track, but is the area where the storm could potentially develop.

Tropical Storm Maria

Tropical Storm Maria is currently about 360 miles east-northeast of Cape Hatteras, moving east at 13 mph. It has maximum sustained winds of 70 mph with hurricane force gusts of 86 mph.

Tropical weather track

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Source: National Hurricane Center

It is expected to continue weakening as it moves further east, and no coastal watches or warnings were associated with the storm at midday Thursday.

Hurricane Lee

Meanwhile, Hurricane Lee continues spinning in the middle of the Atlantic. As of the hurricane center’s 11 a.m. update, it is a Category 2 storm with sustained winds of 100 mph and gusts up to 121 mph.

Tropical weather track

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Source: National Hurricane Center

It is currently about 460 miles east-northeast of Bermuda, moving north at 12 mph.

There are no coastal watches or warnings associated with Lee, which is expected to become a tropical storm by Friday.

This story was originally published September 28, 2017 at 12:27 PM with the headline "As Maria and Lee move east, a new disturbance could bring flooding to the Lowcountry."