'Life-Threatening Surf' Forecast For Erin: See Latest FL Impacts

MIAMI — Hurricane Erin continued its path northwest Sunday, and was expected to cause a rip current threat and high surf concerns in the Miami area later in the week, according to authorities, who did not project Erin would make landfall in Florida.

“Erin is expected to produce life-threatening surf and rip currents along the beaches of the Bahamas, much of the east coast of the U.S., Bermuda, and Atlantic Canada during the next several days,” Senior Hurricane Specialist Richard Pasch wrote in a hurricane discussion late Sunday afternoon.

Erin, the first Atlantic hurricane of 2025, reached Category 5 status Saturday with maximum winds of 160 mph before weakening to Category 3 on Sunday. The hurricane was expected to pass Florida to the east from midday Monday to Tuesday evening, according to the National Hurricane Center.

“Increasing swell from Erin is expected as early as Tuesday, but more likely mid- to late week,” according to a Miami area forecast discussion from the National Weather Service, as of Sunday morning. “This will result in an increasing rip current threat for the Atlantic beaches and possible high surf concerns for Palm Beach County.”

Erin’s eyewall diameter increased from 5-10 nautical miles to around 40 nautical miles Sunday, but was expected to contract Sunday night, likely causing an intensification of the hurricane, according to the hurricane center. As of late Sunday afternoon, its maximum sustained winds were 125 mph and it was moving west-northwest at 13 mph and was about 165 miles east of Grand Turk Island.

“Notwithstanding, Erin should remain in conducive environmental conditions and remain a dangerous major hurricane through the middle of this week,” Pasch wrote.

“Erin has been growing in size, and that trend is likely to continue over the next few days. The expanding wind field will result in rough ocean conditions over much of the western Atlantic.”

Bands of heavy rain were expected to continue to fall across Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands through Sunday night followed by tropical storm conditions in the Turks and Caicos Islands and in the southeast Bahamas into Monday, according to Pasch.

The rain and winds from the outer bands of the storm left about 147,000 customers without power Sunday morning in Puerto Rico, according to Luma Energy, a private company that oversees the transmission and distribution of power on the island. The weather canceled more than 20 flights, officials said.

The Coast Guard allowed all ports in Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands to reopen on Sunday as winds and rains in the area decrease.

The Associated Press contributed to this story.