Tropical Storm Winds Possible for North Carolina as Erin Moves Closer

The Tuesday morning update from the National Hurricane Center (NHC) is in. Has Hurricane Erin grown and where is it headed next? Read on for all of the details.

Erin Moving to the Northwest Across the Atlantic as a Category 2 Hurricane

According to the NHC, Erin has weakened and is now a Category 2 storm. As of Tuesday morning, Erin was churning about 700 miles to the south-southeast of Hatteras, North Carolina. The storm is crawling to the northwest at a speed of 7 mph.

Maximum sustained winds are coming in at about 110 mph. Erin weakened overnight when it took in a mass of dry air while also encountering wind shear.

Although Erin is not expected to come ashore in the U.S., the sheer size of the monster storm means that the impacts will indeed be felt on American soil. Erin is continuing to grow in size while still packing its powerful winds. The large size of the storm means that it will create dangerous high surf conditions and rip currents up and down the East Coast over the next few days.

As predicted earlier in the week, Erin's wind field has continued to expand. This means that the storm will have a significant impact on many areas of the Atlantic basin, even if it does not make a direct strike on any major land areas. Local officials in North Carolina have issued a variety of alerts for the coastal portion of the state.

The most updated forecast models are still predicting that Erin will take a turn to the north before curling to the northeast. This path would take Erin between Bermuda and North Carolina.

However, the large real estate area taken up by Erin means that tropical storm winds can reach as far as the Outer Banks of North Carolina later in the week. It is unlikely that this region will see any hurricane-force winds out of Erin. Bermuda should also dodge the worst of the winds.

The greatest impact on the East Coast will come in the form of rough seas and rip currents. These impacts will stretch from Florida and up the coast into New England. It is important that beachgoers pay heed to all posted warnings.

The large swells could also generate coastal flooding at times of high tide this week. This risk will be the greatest in the Carolinas across the east and the southeast-facing beaches. Residents of Hatteras Island, North Carolina, have been ordered to evacuate due to the threat of coastal flooding.

Looking Back on Erin's History

Forecasters began watching Erin's initial seeds over a week ago. The storm spent a few days as a tropical storm before becoming a Category 1 hurricane late Friday morning. The system then went through the process of rapid intensification, which sent it to the designation of a Category 5 storm on Saturday. To illustrate how quickly Erin grew, the storm went from a mere tropical storm to a Category 5 hurricane in less than 30 hours. Erin grew from a Category 3 storm to a Category 5 monster in under 6 hours.

Erin is also now one of the few hurricanes on record to pack wind speeds of at least 145 mph by the month of August. Hurricane Erin is also the first Category 5 storm to roam the Atlantic since Milton and Beryln carried this distinction in 2024.

The storm has been fluctuating between categories as it goes through periodic times of eyewall replacement. For instance, after reaching a Category 5 status on Saturday morning, Erin fell back to a Category 4 designation by the evening hours. Erin spent time as a Category 3 storm on Sunday before powering back up again after replacing its eyewall.

The majority of the highest winds have remained to the north of the populated islands of the Caribbean. The island of Tortola, located in the British Virgin Islands, recorded a top wind gust of 57 mph on Saturday evening.

There is a good deal of moisture associated with Erin. Puerto Rico picked up 6 inches of rain on Sunday as the outer rain bands skirted past the island. According to the National Weather Service (NWS), up to 7 inches of rain fell in the hardest-hit areas of the U.S. Virgin Islands.

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