Hurricane Lee was still a Category 1 storm with 80 mph winds on Thursday morning — but that could be about to change.

The National Hurricane Center is forecasting Lee, the fourth hurricane of the 2023 in the Atlantic, to explosively strengthen today, and it could be a Category 3 storm by early Friday with winds over 111 mph.

Lee was in the central Atlantic Ocean on Thursday and is days away from potentially affecting land. The hurricane center’s official forecast path shows the center of the storm tracking to the north and east of the Lesser Antilles this weekend, and forecasters added on Thursday morning they have increasing confidence on that track playing out.

However, forecasters cautioned that the islands could still feel some of the effects from the storm, which could become a Category 4 monster with winds as high as 155 mph in a few days.

“Interests in those islands should continue to monitor Lee’s forecasts as the typical three-day NHC track error is about 90 nautical miles,” the hurricane center said Thursday, “and the northernmost Leeward Islands currently have a 1-in-4 chance of experiencing sustained tropical-storm-force winds on the southern side of the storm.”

As of early Thursday morning, the center of Hurricane Lee was located about 965 miles east of the northern Leeward Islands and was tracking to the west-northwest at 13 mph.

The hurricane center expects Lee to stay on the same path for the next few days but could slow down this weekend.

The official long-range track for the storm shows the center sitting well to the north of the islands and to the east of the Bahamas by early Tuesday morning but goes no further in the future than that.

Lee had sustained winds of 80 mph, making it a Category 1 hurricane. Category 2 winds begin at 96 mph.

The hurricane center said that waves from Lee will cause rough surf and dangerous rip currents in parts of the Leeward Islands on Friday and the British and U.S. Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico, Hispaniola, the Bahamas, and Bermuda this weekend.

ELSEWHERE IN THE ATLANTIC

The hurricane center was also tracking two other disturbances on Thursday, and one of them could become a tropical depression in the next few days. It’s far from the U.S., though.

That disturbance on Thursday was in the far eastern Atlantic near the Cabo Verde Islands. It could become a depression in the next day or so and could bring heavy rain and gusty winds to the islands this morning. The forecast path takes the system to the northwest and into the open Atlantic this weekend.

The next disturbance is what’s left of former Hurricane Franklin and was over the northeastern Atlantic on Thursday. The chances of it regenerating into a tropical or subtropical system have dropped as of Thursday morning, according to forecasters, and are expected to decrease more by tonight.

The Atlantic hurricane season is near its climatological peak, which is coming on Sept. 10. The last official day of the season will be Nov. 30.