NEEDHAM, Mass. —

Tropical storm warnings are in effect for much of the Massachusetts and New England coastline as Hurricane Lee advances north over the Atlantic Ocean.

As of 8 a.m. Friday, Lee, located about 460 miles south of Nantucket, was a Category 1 with maximum sustained winds of 85 mph. The hurricane was moving north at 16 mph.

“Little change in strength is expected through Friday night,” the National Hurricane Center said. “Lee is forecast to become post-tropical and begin weakening by Saturday, but it is still expected to be a large and dangerous storm when it reaches eastern New England and Atlantic Canada.”

A tropical storm warning is now in effect from Westport, Massachusetts to the U.S./Canada border. The warning includes Cape Cod, Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket, Boston, the North Shore, and Cape Ann to the New Hampshire Seacoast. A Tropical Storm Warning means that tropical storm conditions are expected somewhere within the warning area within 36 hours.

Latest maps: Tracking Lee | Hurricane season maps and graphics

The center of Lee will continue to move farther away from Bermuda this morning and approach the coast of New England and Atlantic Canada Friday and Saturday.

“Hurricane Lee has been moving faster now than it has all week long. It is moving away from Bermuda as a Category 1 hurricane and through Friday night, it is going to maintain that strength,” StormTeam 5 Chief Meteorologist Cindy Fitzgibbon said. “Tropical storm force sustained winds are possible on parts of the outer Cape, where we could see gusts 50 to 60 miles per hour.”

The Storm Surge Watch, alerting to the possibility of life-threatening inundation, previously posted for Cape Cod Bay and Nantucket, has been cancelled.

Lee could bring some tree damage and power outages, especially right along the coast.

“Because it has been so wet lately, the trees are a little bit more vulnerable,” Fitzgibbon said. “It’s not going to take that much wind to cause some issues with some trees coming down. So there may be some power outages.”

Parts of inland Massachusetts, Metrowest and along Interstate 495 are not expected to see a lot of rain or wind from Lee.

StormTeam 5 is calling Saturday an Impact Weather Day.

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