Hurricane Erin on Monday bulked back up, but then dropped back down, although still a major Category 3 storm as it moved near the Bahamas with an increasing wind field that prompted new tropical

Hurricane Erin is moving east of the U.S. coast as a major storm and will bring strong waves and rip currents to Florida's east coast – and it comes as the National Hurricane Center is eyeing two more tropical waves in the Atlantic.

Erin is the first hurricane to develop over the Atlantic this year, and meteorologists are closely tracking its path and forecast.

Hurricane Erin, the first of the Atlantic season, briefly reached Catagory 5 status. What does the intense storm mean for the rest of the 2025?

According to a post to X from Michael Lowry, a hurricane specialist for a south Florida news station, Erin is the fifth Category 5 storm on “record to form this early in the hurricane season and the only Category 5 observed outside the Gulf or Caribbean this early in the year.”

Much of North Carolina’s Outer Banks region is under a tropical storm watch with Hurricane Erin expected to skirt the area Wednesday through Thursday, according to the National Hurricane Center.

Erin is the first hurricane to develop over the Atlantic this year, and meteorologists are closely tracking its path and forecast.

Additional strengthening is expected as the storm is forecast to “remain a large and dangerous major hurricane through the middle of this week,” the National Hurricane Center said.

Tropical Storm Erin is expected to become a hurricane by late on Aug. 14, according to the latest advisory from the National Hurricane Center.