Erin Expected To ‘Explode’ Into Category 4 Hurricane: See Potential NJ Impacts

As Tropical Storm Erin intensifies, the National Hurricane Center said the storm is expected to officially become a hurricane on Friday, with potential impacts to the Jersey Shore.

"Erin is forecast to explode into a powerful Category 4 hurricane as it moves across very warm waters in the open Atlantic. Water temperatures at the surface and hundreds of feet deep are several degrees higher than the historical average," said Accuweather’s lead hurricane expert Alex DaSilva said.

Though experts said it’s too early to predict specific impacts of wind, rain, or storm surge to the East Coast, they did advise beachgoers to keep an eye on the waves as the storm intensifies.

“As Erin moves into the Western Atlantic and strengthens, it’s gonna produce a large wave field,” National Hurricane Center Deputy Director Jamie Rhome said Friday, with a chart of the storm’s wave field.

According to Rhome, brighter colors in the chart indicate higher ocean waves, with the potential to reach up to 35 feet.

“As those waves move toward the east coast of the United States, it’s going to produce a big rip current risk later in the weekend, early next week,” Rhome said. “So if you’re going to the beach, you really have to pay attention.”

Regardless of Erin’s exact track, Rhome said the threat of rip currents will still materialize and advised those headed to the beach to swim near a lifeguard and check hazard warnings at their local beach beforehand.

In a Friday morning update from the National Hurricane Center, authorities said the storm has maximum sustained winds of 70 MPH and was moving northwest at 17 MPH from its location several hundred miles east of the northern Leeward Islands.

Once the storm leaves the Caribbean, Erin will set its sights on the east coast of the United States, with the severity of its impacts dependent on its track, according to a report from AccuWeather.

"At this time, impacts are expected to include dangerous surf, beach erosion and coastal flooding,” DaSilva said. “However, conditions may worsen along the U.S. Atlantic coast, if Erin's track shifts farther west.”

As of Friday morning, AccuWeather's team of meteorologists said they expect the most likely path of Erin to keep the eye of the hurricane east of the United States, though the storm is forecast to grow in strength and size.

As the storm grows, AccuWeather said its field of influence "may become extensive" with tropical storm conditions possibly extending outward from the center by 100 miles or more.

Protruding coastal areas such as Long Island and New York 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, forecasters said.

As of Friday morning, DaSilva said Erin has not yet started to curve north, though the longer the storm tracks west before turning north, the odds increase of impacts potentially reaching the East Coast.

“Be vigilant if you’re going to an East Coast beach next week," DaSilva said. "Be aware of rip current warning signs and only swim in areas with lifeguards on duty."