Hurricane Lee is expected to grow significantly as path of Category 3 storm makes northward turn: US East Coast set to be hit with life-threatening rips, dangerous surf and coastal erosion

Hurricane Lee is forecast to escalate significantly through the week as it barrels up the US East Coast.

While meteorologists remain unsure whether the eye of the twister will make landfall, the storm's effects are already being felt as it continues to send dangerous rip tides from the Bahamas to Florida and the Carolinas. 

And with Hurricane Lee churning off the Atlantic and expected to make a northward turn by midweek, several torrential thunderstorms have branched off and caused travel chaos and flash flooding across New York and New England. 

As of Tuesday morning, Lee was around 575 miles south of Bermuda and registered as a Category 3 hurricane with wind gusts of 115mph, according to the National Hurricane Center. 

Trackers show the path of the hurricane just passing Bermuda mid-week, before a northward turn will linger off the mid-Atlantic states and New England by the end of the weekend. 

Hurricane Lee escalated from a Category 1 to a Category 5 hurricane overnight on Thursday, leading to fears it could tear apart the East Coast

Over 11 inches of rain fell in Leominster, Massachusetts, on Monday - causing entire cars to become submerged and officials to urge residents to evacuate 

The storm system alarmed forecasters last week when it strengthened from a Category 1 to a Category 5 hurricane overnight Thursday. 

Meteorologists have seemingly gone back-and-forth over whether the hurricane will make landfall, however the twister's effects are still set to barrage the eastern seaboard into the week. 

Tropical storm-force winds are expected to extend over 300 miles from the storm's center in the coming days, National Hurricane Center Director Michael Brennan said in an update on Monday. 

'It is still expected to significantly increase in size, and hazards will extend well away from the storm center by the end of the forecast period,' the weather service said. 

'There’s still a lot of uncertainty as to the exact track of how close it will get to the coast of New England and Atlantic Canada over the next several days,' Brennan said, before adding that there remains 'certainly the chance for significant impacts with a growing storm.'  

As well as striking the southeast of the US, dangerous surf has placed regions from the Gulf Coast and across the Caribbean on alert. 

On Monday, the hurricane whipped up waves over 15 feet in open waters north of the Caribbean region, however the NHC said 'it is too soon to determine the specific timing and level of those impacts.' 

Forecasters have struggled to nail down the exact path and potency of Hurricane Lee, leading to varying estimates over its the extent of the damage it could bring

Forecasters say the hurricane is continuously strengthening and weakening as it spirals towards the US, partly through a process called an 'eyewall replacement cycle'. 

The occurrence sees the eye of the twister narrow and strengthen as it speeds up, until it reaches a peak velocity and a new eyewall forms around the center. When this happens, the storm both slows down and extends its scope. 

While a natural process, the widening range of the hurricane has led to varying estimates over how much damage the storm could cause. 

Last Wednesday, the NHC warned: 'Most of the intensity models are very aggressive, bringing Lee to major hurricane status by the weekend.'

In a forecast two days later, the center flip-flopped on this prediction, admitting that 'it is way too soon to know what level of impacts, if any, Lee might have along the US East Coast, Atlantic Canada, or Bermuda late next week'.

The forecaster added that this may come as 'the hurricane is expected to slow down considerably over the southwestern Atlantic.'

The day after Hurricane Lee worryingly strengthened to a Category 5 storm in a matter of hours, the eye of the storm was captured in breathtaking footage by the US Air Force, as meteorologists tracked waves near its center as high as 50 feet.

Over the weekend, potent thunderstorms swept over the northeast and caused flash flooding and travel chaos that was still seen into Tuesday morning. 

Shocking footage showed torrential waist-high floodwaters barreling through Cumberland, Rhode Island as the northeast region was battered on Monday 

A huge sinkhole opened up in the central Massachusetts town that one woman said she and her vehicle were almost swept into due to the torrential currents

The severe weather caused damage to Leominster's Barrett Park Dam, leading to evacuations of the town by emergency crews

Severe flood warnings remain in effect across central Massachusetts in what officials said could be life-threatening - although there have not been reports of any deaths in the region as a result of the severe weather. 

Parts of lower Leominster - around 50 miles from Boston - were evacuated Tuesday as the flooding caused issues with the Barrett Park Dam. 

The mayor of the town, Dean Mazzarella, said over 11 inches of rainfall deluged the area, and shocking footage showed deep floodwaters submerging cars and streaming down the streets at high currents.

'Everything's just one big lake,' Mazzarella said on Monday. 'Find a high spot somewhere. Find a high spot and stay there until this is over.'

Massachusetts's Governor Maura Healey also issued emergency boat rescue and response teams to the city. 

'My heart goes out to residents and public safety officials in Leominster and other communities experiencing catastrophic flooding tonight,' she posted on X (formerly Twitter). 

Similarly dangerous scenes were seen in footage from Cumberland, Rhode Island, as residents were forced from their homes amid torrential waist-high floodwaters. 

One person who shared footage of the flash flooding said they 'lived here for 20 years and it's never flooded this bad.' 

In another image shared to social media, a huge sinkhole had opened up in the town of 40,000 that one woman said she was lucky not to drift into due to the high currents. 

The worst of the storms struck Massachusetts and Rhode Island, with further wet and wild weather forecast to extend through the week across New England 

A flash flood warning was extended through Tuesday in Leominster due to the storms 

Further disruption is expected through the week, worsening as the storm makes its forecast northward turn midweek. 

With the range of the system still uncertain, regions from Bermuda all the way up to Atlantic Canada are on alert. 

Amongst the uncertainty over the storm's path, computer generated models in recent days have shown the storm potentially slamming into major cities including New York City and Boston, while it also has the potential to turn back to the Atlantic.

Similarly comforting models have been tragically wrong in the past, however. In 2017, meteorologists predicted Hurricane Irma would turn towards the ocean, before it battered Florida's Gulf Coast and led to at least 92 deaths. 

The 'eyewall replacement cycle' that is being seen in Hurricane Lee could cause widespread damage, however the timing of the replacement is key. The process saved many Florida residents last month when Hurricane Idalia struck Florida's Gulf Coast.

Although the hurricane brought significant damage and led to at least two deaths, experts cautioned that the damage could have been far worse as the hurricane turned and slowed thanks to the natural phenomenon.

However, the timing of the replacement could see it strengthen past previous levels described by Ryan Maue, a meteorologist and former chief scientist with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration as: 'Like a figure skater pulling in her arms versus holding her arms out, the hurricane spins with a lot more energy, power, and ferocity when it has a tighter eye.'