Tropical Storm Leslie tracker: System downgraded again and sould continue to weaken

The National Hurricane Center (NHC) has been following a tropical disturbance in the Atlantic in the last couple of days that was once a Category 2 hurricane but on Thursday was downgraded to Tropical Storm Leslie.

Leslie was located about 1,585 miles from the Azores region of Portugal around 11 a.m. ET on Friday and was moving toward the north-northeast at about 10 miles per hour. Forecasts predict the storm will turn toward the northeast with an increase in speed on Friday night.

Forecasters then expect Leslie to turn toward the east-northeast over the weekend, further moving away from the United States.

Maximum sustained winds near 90 mph were recorded on Thursday morning, but by Friday they had weakened to about 50 miles per hour. The NHC expects the tropical storm to continue to weaken and become a post-tropical cycle in the next couple of days.

Tropical Storm Leslie Tracker

Tropical Storm Leslie Spaghetti Models

Illustrations include an array of forecast tools and models, and not all are created equal. The hurricane center uses only the top four or five highest-performing models to help make its forecasts.

Atlantic Storm Tracker

Fernando Cervantes Jr. is a trending news reporter for USA TODAY. Reach him at [email protected] and follow him on X @fern_cerv_.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Tropical Storm Leslie tracker: Forecasters expect storm to weaken