With Hurricane Lee expected to pass offshore of Martha’s Vineyard Saturday, the National Weather Service has issued a tropical storm warning for Dukes County. The storm could hit the Island with tropical storm-force winds within the next 36 hours.
The storm, a category 3 hurricane as of Wednesday afternoon, is poised to lose some of its strength as it moves over colder Atlantic waters, but Islanders are readying themselves for strong winds this weekend.
For the seventh straight year, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is predicting an active hurricane season, amid warming ocean temperatures and shifting weather patterns across the globe.
Blizzard warnings and travel advisories were up on Martha’s Vineyard Friday as a powerful northeast winter storm made its way up the mid-Atlantic. The Steamship Authority announced that all ferry service would be suspended Saturday.
Crews were working around the clock on cleanup efforts after a ferocious northeaster swept across the Island early in the week, packing hurricane-force winds.
Martha’s Vineyard bid bon voyage to tropical storm Henri Sunday afternoon, which brought mist, occasional downpours, wind and choppy surf but inflicted minimal damage across the Island as it swirled north, west and inland by evening. The Steamship Authority returned to full operations by 5 p.m.