Hurricane Lee’s wind field continued to expand Thursday as the large hurricane moves north while attention also turns to a tropical depression that is expected to form within the next day or so.

Hurricane Lee has widened over time, with hurricane-force winds extending outward up to 105 miles from Lee’s center and tropical-storm-force winds extending outward up to 290 miles as of early Thursday.

Meanwhile, the low-pressure system forecast to become a tropical depression is expected to move west-northwest to northwest across the central Atlantic at 10 to 15 mph, according to the latest forecast.

Its odds of developing were at 80% over the next two days and 90% within the next five days as of 2 a.m. Thursday.

Tropical storm and storm surge watches remained in effect for coastal New England as Lee moved north toward the region.

A hurricane watch is in place for the coast of northern Maine to the Canadian border, and most of coastal New England is under a tropical storm watch, including Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket. There is also a storm surge watch for Cape Cod and Nantucket with forecasters predicting between 2 and 4 feet.

Elsewhere in the Atlantic, a weakening Margot was barely clinging to hurricane status, with top winds of 75 mph as of 5 a.m. Thursday, just 1 mph over the minimum threshold for a Category 1 hurricane.

Margot was forecast to downgrade to a tropical storm later Thursday as it continues to meander in a clockwise loop in the open waters of the western-central Atlantic, according to the latest advisory.

Hurricane Lee has weakened slightly to a Category 2 storm with sustained wind speeds of 100 mph and continues to arc northward, accelerating on a trajectory that will carry it along the eastern seaboard of the U.S.

Forecasters said Lee will approach the coast of New England and Canada on Friday and Saturday. The National Hurricane Center said coastal New England could see tropical storm conditions starting Friday night. Hurricane conditions will be possible in areas of down-east Maine Saturday.

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