Hurricane Erin Strengthens, 'Life-Threatening' Risks On FL Coast

Forecasters continue to watch Hurricane Erin, which has reintensified into a Category 4 storm with 140 mph winds, and warn people along Florida's East Coast to about dangerous surf conditions the storm will generate.

"Erin will remain a dangerous major hurricane through the middle of this week," with the storm growing even stronger, the National Hurricane Center said Monday.

While Erin’s track should bring it increasingly close to the U.S. East Coast through Thursday — while brushing by Bermuda at the same time — the system will turn away from the mainland and head first northwest, then north into the Atlantic, AccuWeather forecasters said.

Before and during Erin’s predicted turn, the system is expected to bring “life-threatening surf and rip currents” to the beaches of the Bahamas, the U.S. East Coast and Atlantic Canada over the next few days, the National Hurricane Center said.

All central Florida Atlantic beaches are under a high rip current risk from Monday morning through Thursday evening, the National Weather Service said.

"Numerous, strong, life-threatening rip currents and increasing rough surf" are expected, the forecast said. "Rip currents can sweep even the best swimmers away from shore into deeper water."

Waves of 5 to 10 feet could reach coastal communities with 10 to 15 feet possible at North Carolina’s Outer Banks, eastern Long Island and Cape Cod, AccuWeather said. Swells, rip currents, beach erosion and coastal flooding are predicted to intensify from mid- to late week.

Strong winds of 40 to 50 mph that are produced by Erin’s outer rainbands could also impact the Outer Banks and Bermuda mid-week, forecasters said. The area could even see wind gusts as high as 60 mph.

“Erin is going to go down as the ultimate land scraper,” Fox 13’s Paul Dellegatto wrote in a Facebook post. “Scraped by Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands, Turks and Caicos, then will land scrape the Outer Banks of North Carolina, then will finally scrape by Bermuda. Definitely some impacts, but could be a lot worse.”

Meanwhile, a new spot coming off the coast of Africa is being eyed for possible tropical development this week. If the system develops into a hurricane, it will be Fernand, the next name on the 2025 Atlantic hurricane name list.

Erin became the first Atlantic hurricane of 2025 on Friday morning and quickly strengthened into a Category 5 storm with 160 mph winds by late Saturday morning. It weakened into a Category 3 hurricane on Sunday.

“Erin will go down in the history books as one of the fastest rapidly intensifying storms in history. It took roughly 24 hours for Erin to explode from a Category 1 storm to a monster Category 5 hurricane,” Alex DaSilva, AccuWeather lead hurricane expert, said. “Erin took full advantage of the warm waters and conducive conditions for rapid intensification this weekend. We expect to see more cases of extreme rapid intensification in the future as ocean temperatures continue to rise.”

The system also had one of the largest 24-hour pressure drops ever recorded in the Atlantic before September, DaSilva added.

Erin will take a curved track between the U.S. and Bermuda this week, while remaining a major storm, according to AccuWeather.

The system will also continue to intensify, Denis Phillips, chief meteorologist for ABC Action News, wrote in a Facebook post. “Erin's pressure continued to drop overnight indicating the storm is back to strengthening. The winds should increase today. On the satellite, it's clear that a new, small, eye is developing again.”

See Also:

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The storm is about 100 miles east-northeast of Grand Turk Island. Tropical storm warnings are in effect for the Turks and Caicos and the southeastern Bahamas.

Bands of heavy rain are expected Monday over parts of Hispaniola, and through Tuesday for the Turks and Caicos and parts of the southeast and central Bahamas, the National Hurricane Center said. Flash and urban flooding are possible.

Tropical storm conditions are expected Monday in the Turks and Caicos Islands and in the southeast Bahamas and in parts of the central Bahamas late Monday through Tuesday, NHC said.

Next Storm Forecasters Are Watching

Meanwhile, forecasters are watching a tropical wave over the eastern tropical Atlantic that has a 50 percent chance of developing over the next week, NHC said.

Environmental conditions seem conducive for the gradual development of the system, which is currently producing disorganized showers and thunderstorms, the agency said. A tropical depression could form later in the week.

The system is forecast to move west to west-northwest around 20 mph across the central tropical Atlantic, approaching the Leeward Islands by the end of the week.

There’s no way to predict the wave’s exact path as it has a “long trek ahead across the Atlantic” as it moves toward the Caribbean, Matt Devitt with WINK Weather wrote in a Facebook post. “Beyond that point and what it becomes is too early to speculate. One of the hardest elements of tropical weather forecasting is honestly...the wait. It can sometimes be frustrating wanting an immediate answer when the only actual answer is...that there isn't one yet. Once it forms/if it forms, models will then be able to analyze it better.”

Dellegatto said there’s “lots of uncertainty” about this new spot to watch.

“Models are split on a similar path as Erin and a path closer to the United States. We are looking about [eight to nine] days from now, so confidence in any solution is very low,” he wrote.