Hurricane Erin became a Category 5 Monster as it Moves Through the Caribbean

Now weakened from Category 5, Hurricane Erin is battering Puerto Rico and the Leeward Islands with heavy rain, rough surf, and strong winds.

Hurricane Erin had exploded into a Category 5 monster. Packing winds of 160 mph Saturday night as it moved to the west at a clip of 17 mph. Erin is forecast to continue to feed on the bathwater warm ocean water temperatures in the Caribbean.

The spaghetti models indicate that Erin will take a journey between Bermuda and the U.S. Atlantic Seaboard next week. While the storm is not expected to make a direct landfall in any of these populated areas, rough seas and dangerous surf conditions and rip currents will impact the coastline.

Erin became a hurricane late Friday morning, making it the first storm of this designation in the Atlantic basin this season. Favorable environmental conditions will continue to fuel Erin's growth and strengthening over the weekend. Not only are the ocean waters exceptionally warm on the surface, but this heat extends hundreds of feet deep. Little to no wind shear will also work to support the future development of Erin.

Forecasters have been watching the future track of Erin for days, warning that a slow turn to the north will result in a higher chance of meaningful impacts to the U.S. The current models signal that Erin will be slow to make this turn, giving it more time to feed on the warm ocean waters in this part of the Caribbean.

While it is highly unlikely that the U.S. will sustain a direct hit from Erin, the size of this storm means that the large swells and rough seas will extend hundreds of miles from the eye. The position and power of an area of high pressure located in the Atlantic will pair with a southward dip in the jet stream to determine when Erin makes its turn away from the U.S.

As of Sunday morning, hurricane Erin weakened to a Category 3 storm.

What Impacts the U.S. Should Expect

The areas of the U.S. that jut out from the coast will be the most at risk of experiencing significant impacts. This includes places such as the Outer Banks of North Carolina and Cape Cod, Massachusetts.