Hurricane Jose is traveling up the East Coast and Maria may become a hurricane, threatening the same islands Irma devastated — here's the latest

Hurricane Jose is traveling up the East Coast of the US and could affect an area from North Carolina to New England, according to the latest forecast from the National Hurricane Center (NHC).

It's still far more likely than not that Jose will stay out at sea, but the NHC reported at 11 a.m. ET on Sunday that parts of the US are already feeling effects from the storm as its swells generate dangerous surf and rip currents.

The edge of Jose may graze Rhode Island and Massachusetts on Wednesday or Thursday, but that forecast may change. Its eye will likely stay offshore.

It's possible that tropical storm watches will be needed for some section of the Mid-Atlantic or Northeast within the next day or two.

Jose was at one point a powerful almost-Category 5 storm that menaced parts of the Caribbean that had already taken the brunt of Hurricane Irma. But Jose turned north and spun a loop in the Atlantic, weakening to tropical storm status before picking up strength again and heading toward the East Coast.

On Sunday, Jose was again a Category 1 hurricane. At this point, Jose, which has maximum sustained winds of 90 mph, is moving north at 9 mph. An Air Force hurricane hunter plane found the storm had strengthened since Saturday morning.

The storm is expected to remain a hurricane through Tuesday, the NHC said, then weaken to a tropical storm.

Swells from Jose are already affecting the Bahamas, Bermuda, and the US east coast. They're expected to move up the Mid-Atlantic over the next few days, producing dangerous surf and rip current conditions.

Tropical Storm Maria

NOAA

The weather service also issued an advisory for Tropical Storm Maria, warning that it will likely become a hurricane Sunday night.

At 2 p.m. on Sunday, an Air Force hurricane hunter plane was flying into the storm to take new measurements, and Maria was traveling northwest at 15 mph with maximum sustained winds of 65 mph. Once it crosses the 74 mph mark, it becomes a hurricane.

Maria threatens the same islands that Hurricane Irma ravaged a week ago. The storm will likely make landfall in the Leeward Islands on Monday, and possibly hit Puerto Rico and Hispaniola as a major hurricane on Wednesday.

Hurricane warnings are in effect for Dominica and Guadeloupe. Tropical storm warnings for this system have been issued for St. Lucia and Martinique.

Hurricane watches are in effect for Antigua, Barbuda, St. Kitts, Nevis, Montserrat, Saba and St. Eustatius, St. Martin, St. Barthelemy, and Anguilla.

The NHC is also keeping an eye on newly formed Tropical Depression Lee, which is crossing the Atlantic from Africa toward the Americas.

It's been an unusually active Atlantic hurricane season, and we're just now at the peak time for storm activity.

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