Hurricane Lee is expected to intensify and become the first Category 5 hurricane of the Atlantic season, which lasts until Nov. 30.

As of 3:45 p.m. Thursday, meteorologists with the Weather Channel reported the hurricane was more than 800 miles east of the Leeward Islands and was expected to head “north of the Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico this weekend."

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The storm is also expected to have possible impacts on Bermuda, Atlantic Canada, and parts of the East Coast, and it is expected to make landfall as far as Nova Scotia.

In Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands, the Federal Emergency Management Agency pre-deployed assets and is coordinating with local officials ahead of the storm, the Biden administration said.

Despite this likely being the first Category 5 storm of the season, Lee is the 12th named hurricane. Throughout the last 100 years, 38 Atlantic hurricanes have reached Category 5 intensity. National Hurricane Center forecaster Dan Zelinsky pointed to computer forecast models that caught “an alarming rate of intensification” beyond what is normally seen. This is due to the moist environment, rising ocean temperature, and minimal wind shear.

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Thirty-eight other Atlantic hurricanes have reached Category 5 intensity over the past 100 years.

The Weather Channel advised those along the Eastern Seaboard to avoid high surf and rip currents, with possible coastal flooding and beach erosion next week. Residents in the affected islands are encouraged to stay vigilant, but no advisories have been issued at this time to shelter in place.