Hurricane Erin explodes into Cat 5 storm and is expected to double - even triple
Thankfully for the coastal U.S., forecasters do not believe the hurricane will make landfall, though severe weather on the periphery of the storm could cause adverse offshore conditions along the East Coast.
Erin is expected to take a turn north after this weekend, skirting the eastern edge of the U.S. According to the National Hurricane Center, the storm is expected to travel north between Bermuda and North Carolina's Outer Banks before it continues onward into the Atlantic Ocean.
"We still expect this to eventually make a more northward turn and stay offshore of the East Coast of the United States. So that certainly is good news when dealing with a storm this powerful," AccuWeather meteorologist Dan Pydynowski told USA TODAY.
The National Hurricane Center predicts that by the middle of next week the storm will double or triple in size. That expansion could cause rough oceans for parts of the western Atlantic.
The Caribbean will be the first to feel the storm's power; heavy rainfall is predicted in the northern Leeward Islands, the Virgin Islands, and Puerto Rico this weekend. Two to four inches of rain are expected and flash flooding is possible in some areas, according to the NHC.
In the continental U.S., Erin is expected to generate dangerous surf conditions along essentially the entire East Coast. High waves and dangerously strong rip currents are likely.
Anyone visiting the beach on Florida's east coast between August 18 and 21 should be mindful as the storm will likely create dangerous offshore conditions during that period, according to the National Weather Service.
Hurricane season in the Atlantic begins on June 1 and continued through the end of November. Major hurricanes — those that reach at least a Category 3 — tend to form in late August through mid-October, but Erin was an outlier. It began as a cluster of rainstorms off the western coast of Africa before it formed into a tropical storm system and intensified into a hurricane.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Telegraph
9 minutes ago
- Telegraph
Hurricane Erin intensifies into category 5 storm
Hurricane Erin has turned into a Category 5 storm, rapidly powering up over the course of 24 hours, the National Hurricane Center said. While the compact hurricane's centre was not expected to strike land, it threatened to dump flooding rains in the northeast Caribbean as it continued to grow larger. The first Atlantic hurricane of 2025, Erin ramped up from a tropical storm to a Category 5 hurricane in a single day. By late Saturday morning, its maximum sustained winds had more than doubled to 160 mph (255 kph). Mike Brennen, director of the National Hurricane Center in Miami, said Erin grew into a 'very powerful hurricane', with its winds gaining 60mph (96kph) in about nine hours. The storm was expected to double or even triple in size in the coming days. Tropical storm watches were issued for St Martin, St Barts and St Maarten and the Hurricane Center warned that heavy rain in some areas could trigger flash flooding, landslides and mudslides. The Turks and Caicos Islands southeast of the Bahamas were also under a tropical storm watch. Powerful rip currents could affect the US East Coast from Florida to the mid-Atlantic next week, despite the eye of the storm forecast to remain far offshore, Mr Brennan said. The Hurricane Center said Erin should begin to slowly weaken Monday as the storm encounters increased wind shear. Hurricane specialist and storm surge expert Michael Lowry said Erin gained strength at a pace that was 'incredible for any time of year, let alone August 16th'. Lowry said only four other Category 5 hurricanes have been recorded in the Atlantic on or before August 16. The most powerful storms tend to form later in the year, with the hurricane season typically peaking in mid-September. In October 2005, Hurricane Wilma rocketed from a tropical storm to a Category 5 in less than 24 hours, according to National Hurricane Center advisories from that time. Wilma weakened to a Category 3 hurricane before striking Florida. And in October 2007, Hurricane Felix took just over a day to go from a tropical storm to Category 5. Including Erin, there have been 43 hurricanes that have reached Category 5 status on record in the Atlantic, said Dan Pydynowski, senior meteorologist at AccuWeather, a private forecasting company. Erin is the fifth named storm of the Atlantic hurricane season, which runs from June 1 to November 30, and the first hurricane. The 2025 season is expected to be unusually busy, with six to 10 hurricanes in the forecast including three to five reaching major status with winds of more than 110mph (177kph). In San Juan, Puerto Rico, locals and tourists walked, exercised and shopped as usual Saturday. Restaurants were busy, and despite warnings to avoid beaches, people could be seen in the coastal waters. Parents kept their children from swimming, however. Sarahí Torres and Joanna Cornejo, who were visiting from California for a Bad Bunny concert, said they decided to go to the beach and wade into the water because the skies appeared calm. 'The weather looked fine, so we came out,' Torres said. The US government deployed more than 200 employees from the Federal Emergency Management Agency and other agencies to Puerto Rico as a precaution. Puerto Rico Housing Secretary Ciary Pérez Peña said 367 shelters were inspected and ready to open if needed. Meanwhile officials in the Bahamas prepared some public shelters as a precaution as they urged people to monitor the hurricane. 'These storms are very volatile and can make sudden shifts in movement,' said Aarone Sargent, managing director for the Bahamas' disaster risk management authority.
Daily Mail
3 hours ago
- Daily Mail
Hurricane Erin intensifies into Category-5 storm
Published: | Updated: Hurricane Erin has quickly whipped into a catastrophic Category-5 monster storm travelling west across the Atlantic as the East Coast is warned of deadly water conditions. The storm, sustaining winds of 160mph, is not expected to hit the United States, but heavy rainfall and dangerous water conditions are due to strike. Swells from the hurricane are expected to cause 'life-threatening surf and rip currents' on the East Coast, as well as the northern Leeward Islands, the Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico, Hispaniola, the Turks and Caicos Islands, the Bahamas and Bermuda. Depending on Erin's size and strength, waves could reach 30 feet or more, meteorologists warned. Erin was upgraded to a Category-5 from a Category-3 storm on Friday evening. A Category-5 storm consists of winds above 157mph. 'By the middle of next week, Erin is forecast to at least double or triple in size, which will result in rough ocean conditions over the Western Atlantic,' the National Hurricane Center said. Hurricane Erin is expected to continue to strengthen, curving toward the East Coast and Bermuda. 'Fluctuations in intensity are expected for the rest of the weekend,' the hurricane center said. AccuWeather warned that the worst-case scenario would see Erin guided directly onshore, 'packing high winds, flooding rain and storm surge flooding.' Meteorologist Max Schuster shared on X that while the odds of a US landfall are low, 'it cannot be ruled out still.' The hurricane formed on August 15, becoming the first of the Atlantic season after four tropical storms. Erin was named a tropical storm on Monday when heavy rain brought on major flooding in the Cabo Verde islands and resulted in multiple deaths. The season runs from June to November, with the peak of the Atlantic season hitting in September. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) said in May that they were predicting an 'above average' season that would likely result in more named storms than there were in 2024, when 18 such storms were tracked. The National Hurricane Center noted that approximately 400 people died during 2024's hurricane season, the deadliest season since 2005. Ken Graham, the director of NOAA's National Weather Service, said: 'We've got to convince people of the danger.' 'Every Category 5 [hurricane] that has ever hit this country was a tropical storm or less three days prior,' Graham warned. Graham urged people to begin stocking up on emergency supplies, including gas and other essentials, before long lines form during an actual emergency.
Sky News
4 hours ago
- Sky News
Hurricane Erin rapidly strengthens to Category 5 storm
A hurricane making its way across the Caribbean Sea has quickly turned into a Category 5 storm, having rapidly strengthened in just 24 hours. Hurricane Erin - the first of the 2025 Atlantic season - has raced from maximum sustained winds of 100mph (160kph) to 160mph (255kph). It gained power as it began moving westward past the Leeward Islands - which include Anguilla, Guadaloupe, and the Virgin Islands - on Saturday. While the hurricane is not forecast to make landfall, it is expected to "produce life-threatening surf and rip currents" as it turns northward next week, the US National Hurricane Centre said. Beaches in the Bahamas, much of the east coast of the United States and even Atlantic Canada will be affected, it added. Protruding US coastal areas - such as Long Island, New York and Cape Cod - face a higher risk of direct and potentially severe tropical storm or hurricane conditions, AccuWeather said. 1:01 The hurricane's impact is already being felt on multiple islands. Tropical storm watches have been issued for some Caribbean islands, including St Barts and St Maarten. The National Hurricane Centre has warned heavy rain could cause flash flooding, landslides and mudslides, saying Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands could be affected on Sunday. The US government deployed more than 200 workers, including employees from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, to Puerto Rico as a precaution when a flood watch for the territory was issued earlier this week. With hurricane-force winds extending 30 miles from its centre, Erin is considered compact in size. But it is expected to grow up to double, or even triple, its current size in the coming days. Storms that ramp up so quickly complicate forecasting and make it harder for government agencies to plan for emergencies. Scientists have linked the rapid intensification of hurricanes in the Atlantic Ocean to climate change, as global warming is causing the atmosphere to hold more water vapour and spiking ocean temperatures. The warmer waters give hurricanes fuel to strengthen quickly and unleash more rain. Erin is the fifth named storm of the Atlantic hurricane season, which began on 1 June and runs until 30 November. It is the first to become a hurricane.
