Tropical Storm Erin Forms In Atlantic, Likely To Strengthen Into Major Hurricane

Tropical Storm Erin formed in the eastern Atlantic Monday morning and is expected to strengthen into the first major hurricane of the season as it moves west across the ocean, forecasters said.

The storm has maximum sustained winds of 45 mph as of Monday just before noon, according to the National Hurricane Center.

Two other areas are being watched, although they have low chances of development.

A non-tropical area of low pressure off Nova Scotia and a weak trough of low pressure in the central Atlantic each have a 10 percent chance of strengthening over the next week, NHC said.

Erin developed out of a cluster of showers and thunderstorms that moved off the African coast last week. It became a tropical rainstorm Sunday morning near the Cabo Verde Islands before forming as a tropical storm, according to AccuWeather meteorologists.

The system is expected to intensify and become a hurricane later this week, likely sometime Wednesday, before strengthening into a major hurricane by Saturday morning, the NHC said. At that point, it’s forecast to be northeast of Puerto Rico.

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The average date for the first hurricane of the Atlantic season is Aug. 11, AccuWeather said. The first major hurricane usually doesn’t form until Sept. 1.

"Several factors are working in its favor, including lack of dust, warm water and a lack of disruptive breezes (wind shear)," said Chad Merrill, AccuWeather senior meteorologist.

It’s too soon to know exactly what path the storm will take.

“Still have a lot of time on this one as it moves across the ocean,” Denis Phillips, chief meteorologist for ABC Action News, wrote in a Facebook post.

Weather Channel meteorologists said there’s a low risk of Erin hitting the U.S. East Coast directly, though. They expect the system to turn north over the weekend into early next week.

“However, interests along the East Coast, as well as in Bermuda and Atlantic Canada, should continue to monitor this system since it's too early to rule out any possible track scenarios next week,” they said.

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