Hurricane Lee's historic intensification skyrockets storm to rare strength

Hurricane Lee weakened slightly into a Category 4 storm Friday morning, following a day in which the hurricane strengthened at a historic pace into a powerful Category 5 rarely seen in the Atlantic Ocean.

The hurricane is packing destructive maximum sustained winds of 155 mph and is about 550 miles east of the northern Leeward Islands.

"Although Lee's current intensity is lower than the overnight peak, the hurricane remains very powerful," the National Hurricane Center said, noting that more slight fluctuations in maximum winds are expected over the next several days.

Lee is expected to remain a major hurricane over the southwestern Atlantic early next week, though it's too soon to know whether this system will directly impact the US mainland.

Lee, which was a Category 1 storm Thursday, intensified with exceptional speed in warm ocean waters, doubling its wind speeds in just a day.

The storm's winds increased by 85 mph in a 24-hour period, which tied it with Hurricane Matthew for the third-fastest rapid intensification in the Atlantic, according to NOAA research meteorologist John Kaplan. The monstrous hurricane struck Haiti in 2016, killing hundreds in the Caribbean nation while also wreaking havoc on parts of the US Southeast.

Dangerous surf and rip currents will spread across the northern Caribbean on Friday and begin affecting the mainland US on Sunday.