Powerful Hurricane Erin has undergone a period of astonishingly rapid intensification — a phenomenon that has become far more common in recent years as the planet warms. It was a rare Category 5 for a time Saturday before becoming a Category 4, churning through the Atlantic Ocean north of the Caribbean.

The storm is not currently forecast to hit land, but its strong winds are impacting nearby islands, prompting warnings of possible flooding and landslides.

By The Associated Press Hurricane Erin weakened to a Category 3 hurricane Sunday as its outer bands continued to lash the Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico with heavy rains and tropical-storm force

The first hurricane of 2025 in the Atlantic continued to track north of Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands on Sunday morning, hitting those islands with heavy rain and gusty winds. Erin is expected to move away from the islands later today and begin to curve more to the north.

Hurricane Erin was downgraded to Category 3 early morning on Sunday, Aug. 17, per the National Hurricane Center. However, the tropical storm is still expected to bring 'life-threatening' conditions to the beaches along much of the east coast of the U.

Hurricane Erin, the first major hurricane of the 2025 Atlantic hurricane season, rapidly intensified Friday night, with the storm now reaching Category 5 strength with sustained winds of 160 mph.

As of 11 AM AST Sunday, the National Hurricane Center reported that Erin’s center was located about 200 miles northwest of San Juan, Puerto Rico, and 240 miles east of Grand Turk Island. The hurricane is packing maximum sustained winds of 125 mph, making it a Category 3 storm. Its minimum central pressure is estimated at 946 millibars.

An eyewall replacement cycle is underway within Hurricane Erin as the monster storm continues to barrel across the Atlantic while bringing gusty winds and rain to Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands after rapidly intensifying into a catastrophic Category 5 hurricane over the weekend.