Tropical Storm Margot turned into a hurricane overnight Monday into Tuesday morning, joining Hurricane Lee to become the second major storm system in the Atlantic as of Tuesday morning.
Hurricane Margot has maximum sustained wind speeds of 85 mph as of 9:00 a.m. (GMT) Tuesday and is expected to move northwards at a speed of roughly 13 mph throughout the day, according to the National Hurricane Center (NHC). Margot is the fifth hurricane thus far in 2023 and is expected to reach speeds of up to 74-100 mph by Friday evening.
The storm system should remain in the middle of the Atlantic.
Newly formed Hurricane #Margot becomes the fifth hurricane of the 2023 Atlantic Season. https://t.co/0bcEmBeFdb pic.twitter.com/Fc1hphwzr4
— National Weather Service (@NWS) September 11, 2023
If Margot veers just slightly to the west as she moves over the ocean, she could collide with Hurricane Lee, which is continuing to move northwards toward New England and Atlantic Canada. The combination of these two storms could prove catastrophic for all coastal regions along the upper northeast, as well as the Hudson Valley and other major waterways. (RELATED: National Hurricane Center Identifies Four Areas Of Activity In Atlantic. Could Fall Be Defined By Major Hurricanes?)
A third area of low pressure is continuing to build lower in the Atlantic, close to north Africa on a parallel with northern South America, NHC noted. This area is not expected to develop into anything significant in the next 48 hours.
Obviously the worst case scenario is, although unlikely, Margot and Lee both going straight up until they hit Greenland, causing mass ice loss over the shelf and plunging far too much freshwater into the Gulf Stream.
After two years of crazy, unexpected weather, anything is possible. But, again, highly unlikely.