Hurricane Lee updates: Storm makes landfall in Nova Scotia as post-tropical cyclone
Tropical storm warnings are in effect in parts of Maine.
Lee made landfall as a post-tropical cyclone in Nova Scotia Saturday afternoon, after downgrading from a Category 1 hurricane.
A tropical storm warning remains in effect for portions of Maine.
Latest headlines:
New Jersey beach town to fine those who go into dangerous surf
As the summer comes to an end, Hurricane Lee is bringing high surf and dangerous rip currents to beaches up and down the East Coast.
In Seaside Heights, New Jersey, beachgoers who go into the ocean without lifeguards present or in unsafe conditions this week could face a fine up to $1,250, city officials warned Thursday.
"STAY OUT, STAY ALIVE," city officials posted on Facebook.
Click here for what you need to know to stay safe from rip currents.
Onboard with hurricane hunters as they fly into the center of Lee
ABC News chief meteorologist Ginger Zee traveled with NOAA researchers as they flew into the center of Hurricane Lee to gather data on the storm.
Lee's latest forecast
Lee, now a Category 2 hurricane, is bringing huge waves -- up to 12 feet -- to the entire East Coast.
A tropical storm warning is in effect for Bermuda where Lee will drop gusty winds and heavy rain on Thursday.
By Friday, Lee will move away from Bermuda and begin to impact New England, where a hurricane watch was issued for Maine.
Powerful winds up to 60 mph could reach Cape Cod, Massachusetts, by Friday night.
On Saturday, the winds and rain will spread into the rest of New England. Boston could see winds up to 60 mph on Saturday morning.
The heaviest rain -- 1 to 3 inches -- will be from Cape Cod to Bar Harbor, Maine.
Landfall is expected Saturday night in Canada, either in New Brunswick or Nova Scotia, near the Maine border. Lee at that point will have weakened to an extra-tropical storm system, but the strong winds will continue for Maine and Canada through Sunday morning.
-ABC News' Max Golembo
What to know
There's an increasing likelihood that Hurricane Lee will bring wind, rain and flooding to coastal New England on Friday and into the weekend.
Lee is forecast to still be hurricane-strength by the time it passes east of Cape Cod, Massachusetts, on Saturday morning.
Lee could bring strong, gusty winds from Rhode Island to Boston to Maine. The heaviest rain, wind and storm surge will be from Cape Cod to Bar Harbor, Maine, from Friday night through Saturday.
Up to 4 feet of storm surge is possible on Cape Cod and Nantucket.
Hurricane conditions are possible in eastern Maine.
Early Sunday morning, Lee may make landfall between coastal Maine and Nova Scotia as a post-tropical storm. Then Lee will head out to sea.
Lee becomes post-tropical as it approaches Nova Scotia
Still producing hurricane-force winds, Lee has been downgraded to a post-tropical storm as it approaches Nova Scotia on Saturday morning.
The remnants of Hurricane Lee -- now basically an extreme Nor’easter -- are bearing down on coastal New England and Canada. But even though Lee is now post-tropical, the storm remains strong as it produces huge waves, life-threatening rip currents, strong winds and widespread rain to New England, Nova Scotia and New Brunswick.
Data from an Air Force Reserve Hurricane Hunter aircraft indicate that maximum sustained winds remain near 80 mph with higher gusts at Lee’s center.
Lee is expected to be at or just below hurricane strength when it reaches Nova Scotia later today.
On the forecast track, the center of Lee will continue to approach the coast of Nova Scotia this morning. Lee is then expected to turn toward the north-northeast and northeast and move across Atlantic Canada tonight and Sunday.
By 10 p.m. tonight, rain will be northeast of America and completely in Atlantic Canada.
Winds will be simply “windy” down to “breezy” by Sunday morning with gusts of only 15-30 mph at 7 a.m. Sunday in New England.
For now, Tropical-storm-force winds extend outward up to 390 miles from Lee’s center.
Swells generated by Lee are affecting the U.S. Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico, Hispaniola, the Turks and Caicos Islands, the Bahamas, Bermuda, the east coast of the United States and Atlantic Canada. These swells are likely to cause life-threatening surf and rip current conditions.
Rip currents alerts are set to a high risk from New England all the way to Florida as the entire Atlantic coast of America will be seeing life-threatening rip currents today. Through tonight, Lee is expected to produce rainfall amounts of 1 to 4 inches over far eastern Massachusetts, eastern Maine, western Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick.