Eastern New England bracing for onslaught of rain, winds from Hurricane Lee starting Friday

Follow along with Friday's hurricane tracker here.

Eastern New England was bracing Thursday evening for the arrival of Hurricane Lee, expected to bring a nasty mix of heavy rain, strong winds and high seas to the region starting later Friday and lasting into Saturday, forecasters said.

In Maine, Gov. Janet Mills declared a state of emergency as the storm approached. The state was under its first hurricane watch in 15 years.

Even if Lee doesn't officially make landfall in New England, its impacts will still be felt across the region in part because of the increasing size of the storm.

“Lee is expected to remain large and dangerous for the next couple of days," the National Hurricane Center said Thursday evening.

Where is Hurricane Lee now? Where is it headed?

As of Thursday evening, Hurricane Lee's winds were down to 85 mph, making it a Category 1 storm. The center of Lee was located about 640 665 miles south of Nantucket, Massachusetts, and it was moving north at 15 mph.

As of 5 p.m. Thursday, a tropical storm warning along the coast of New England was extended northward to the U.S./Canada border, meaning tropical storm conditions are expected within 36 hours.

Southeastern Massachusetts, including Cape Cod, Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket, remained under a tropical storm warning. Hurricane and tropical storm watches were also in effect across portions of coastal New England.

A large hurricane

"Lee is a large hurricane," the hurricane center said. "Hurricane-force winds extend outward up to 105 miles from the center and tropical-storm-force winds extend outward up to 345 miles."

The primary hazards for southern New England are damaging winds, powerful surf and possible flooding.

According to Weather.com, "there is the possibility that Lee's winds in combination with saturated soils could down trees and knock out power in some areas. Coastal flooding and large, pounding surf are also likely impacts from coastal Massachusetts to Maine."

Maine 'battens down the hatches'

The Coast Guard and emergency management agencies warned New England residents to be prepared, and utility companies brought in reinforcements to deal with power outages. At Boothbay Harbor Marina in Maine, the community came together to remove boats from the water to keep them out of harm’s way.

“It’s a batten-down-the-hatches kind of day,” owner Kim Gillies said Thursday.

Commercial lobster fisherman Steve Train said fishermen have been sinking gear in deeper water to protect against storm damage. Fishing boats were also headed to the safety of harbors.

The system threatened to bring a mixed bag of threats to coastal Maine. Ocean waves as tall as 20 feet could lash the coast, damaging structures and causing erosion; powerful wind gusts could knock down trees weakened by a wet summer; and rain could cause flash flooding in a region where the soil is already saturated, said Louise Fode, a National Weather Service meteorologist in Maine.

Bracing for storm surge

Other parts of New England are also bracing for storm surge as Hurricane Lee progresses further north. 

“The combination of storm surge and tide will cause normally dry areas near the coast to be flooded by rising waters moving inland from the shoreline,” the National Hurricane Center said Thursday evening. 

If peak surge comes at the time of high tide, the center said water could reach one to three feet above ground in parts of Long Island Sound, Cape Cod, Martha’s Vineyard, Nantucket, Boston Harbor, and parts of New York.

The immediate coast will see the deepest water along with powerful, dangerous waves, the center said. Surge-related flooding can vary greatly over short distances and will depend on the surge’s timing and the tidal cycle.

Preparing on Cape Cod

On Cape Cod, residents were advised to have cash on hand, a stock of non-perishable food, water and medicine for three days, flashlights and batteries, an emergency evacuation plan and a list of emergency contacts. The local power company, Eversource, said "Prepare for losing power for days."

Ace Hardware Store Manager James MacNaught in South Yarmouth, Mass., said Wednesday the store is selling sandbags, Quick Dam flood barriers, generators and TruFuel, plastic gasoline containers, chain saws, flashlights, batteries and coolers.

"We're seeing a lot of people," MacNaught said. "There's definitely an uptick."

Hurricane Lee projected path tracker

This forecast track shows the most likely path of the center of the storm but does not illustrate the full width of the storm or its impacts. The center of the storm is likely to travel outside the cone up to 33% of the time.

Hurricane Lee spaghetti models

Spaghetti model illustrations include an array of forecast tools and models, and not all are created equal. The hurricane center uses the top four or five highest-performing models to help make its forecasts.

Contributing: The Associated Press; Denise Coffey, The Cape Cod Times