Hurricane Maria Virginia Update: Where Is She Headed Now?

After devastating the Caribbean, Hurricane Maria churned northwest straight toward the Virginia coast, battering the Hampton Roads with rough surf and storm surge. But now that Maria has been downgraded to a tropical storm, she's starting to move east, and it may be the last we see of her.

And it's good riddance, as even as a weak Category 1 hurricane, Maria could have wreaked havoc had she made landfall on North Carolina or Virginia. As of Thursday afternoon, her max sustained winds declined to 70 miles per hour -- 74 is the threshold to be declared a hurricane -- and is now taking a direct eastward track toward the open ocean.

The National Hurricane Center shows her making a very quick exit out into the Atlantic, eventually veering slightly northeast on its way toward the United Kingdom and Ireland.

Meanwhile, Hurricane Lee has weakened to a Category 2 hurricane with max sustained winds of 100 miles per hour. Lee has been sitting in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean and poses no threat to land. It is expect to move in the same direction as Maria and will weaken to a tropical storm soon.

That's creating worries in the UK and Ireland over whether Maria and Lee will merge and form a superstorm that could strike the islands.

Image via NOAA