Latest information on Hurricane Erin, including track and spaghetti models. This story will also highlight the impacts expected along the East Coast. 11 a.m. Sunday updateHurricane Erin is holding steady at 125 mph winds, a Category 3 hurricane. Tropical storm conditions are expected in the Turks and Caicos and the Southeast Bahamas Sunday night and Monday morning.Erin is expected to create life-threatening rip currents along the U.S. East Coast.5 a.m. updateHurricane Erin has winds down to 125 mph with the 5 a.m. update; however, the storm should regain strength and become a Category 4 once again with winds near 150 mph. Erin is currently bringing heavy rain to Puerto Rico and the Leeward Islands. Rip currents along the East Coast remain a threat. With the storm’s size, waves could reach 50-plus feet. 11 p.m. updateHurricane Erin is now a Category 4 hurricane. It underwent structural changes and is expected to stay a Category 4 overnight. It has sustained winds of 140 miles per hour. Heavy rain and gusty winds are expected over Puerto Rico on Sunday, with no major changes to the track.Saturday evening updateHurricane Erin remains a Category 5 storm in the Caribbean.The first Atlantic hurricane of 2025, Erin, ramped up from a tropical storm to a Category 5 hurricane in a mere 24 hours. By late Saturday morning, its maximum sustained winds more than doubled to 160 mph.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.” Tropical storm watches were issued for St. Martin, St. Barts and St. Maarten. The Hurricane Center warned that heavy rain in some areas could trigger flash flooding, landslides and mudslides. Though compact in size, the hurricane-force winds extending 30 miles from its center mean the hurricane could create powerful rip currents off parts of the U.S. East Coast later in the week, even with its eye forecast to remain far offshore.Protruding U.S. coastal areas — such as North Carolina’s Outer Banks, Long Island, New York, and Cape Cod, Massachusetts — face a higher risk of direct and potentially severe tropical storm or hurricane conditions than much of the southern Atlantic, mid-Atlantic and northern New England coasts. We will continue to monitor each new update and bring you the latest track, timing, and potential impacts as the week unfolds. An ‘incredible’ race from tropical storm to Category 5Hurricane 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 Aug. 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.“They’re certainly rare, although this would mark the fourth year in a row that we’ve had one in the Atlantic basin,” Pydynowski said. Conditions needed for hurricanes to reach such strength include very warm ocean water, little to no wind shear and being far from land, he said.
GREENVILLE, S.C. —
Latest information on Hurricane Erin, including track and spaghetti models. This story will also highlight the impacts expected along the East Coast.
11 a.m. Sunday update
Hurricane Erin is holding steady at 125 mph winds, a Category 3 hurricane.
Tropical storm conditions are expected in the Turks and Caicos and the Southeast Bahamas Sunday night and Monday morning.
Erin is expected to create life-threatening rip currents along the U.S. East Coast.
5 a.m. update
Hurricane Erin has winds down to 125 mph with the 5 a.m. update; however, the storm should regain strength and become a Category 4 once again with winds near 150 mph. Erin is currently bringing heavy rain to Puerto Rico and the Leeward Islands.
Rip currents along the East Coast remain a threat. With the storm’s size, waves could reach 50-plus feet.
11 p.m. update
Hurricane Erin is now a Category 4 hurricane. It underwent structural changes and is expected to stay a Category 4 overnight. It has sustained winds of 140 miles per hour.
Heavy rain and gusty winds are expected over Puerto Rico on Sunday, with no major changes to the track.
Saturday evening update
Hurricane Erin remains a Category 5 storm in the Caribbean.
The first Atlantic hurricane of 2025, Erin, ramped up from a tropical storm to a Category 5 hurricane in a mere 24 hours. By late Saturday morning, its maximum sustained winds more than doubled to 160 mph.
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.”
Tropical storm watches were issued for St. Martin, St. Barts and St. Maarten. The Hurricane Center warned that heavy rain in some areas could trigger flash flooding, landslides and mudslides.
Though compact in size, the hurricane-force winds extending 30 miles from its center mean the hurricane could create powerful rip currents off parts of the U.S. East Coast later in the week, even with its eye forecast to remain far offshore.
Protruding U.S. coastal areas — such as North Carolina’s Outer Banks, Long Island, New York, and Cape Cod, Massachusetts — face a higher risk of direct and potentially severe tropical storm or hurricane conditions than much of the southern Atlantic, mid-Atlantic and northern New England coasts.
We will continue to monitor each new update and bring you the latest track, timing, and potential impacts as the week unfolds.
An ‘incredible’ race from tropical storm to Category 5
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 Aug. 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.
“They’re certainly rare, although this would mark the fourth year in a row that we’ve had one in the Atlantic basin,” Pydynowski said. Conditions needed for hurricanes to reach such strength include very warm ocean water, little to no wind shear and being far from land, he said.