Maps show Hurricane Erin’s path as storm threatens East Coast with “life-threatening surf and rip currents”

Hurricane Erin threatened the East Coast with dangerous surf and rip currents as the large and growing storm moved on a projected path up the Atlantic Ocean, the National Hurricane Center in Miami said early Wednesday. The hurricane isn’t expected to make landfall in the U.S., but people in North Carolina’s Outer Banks were warned of possible coastal flooding that triggered evacuation orders.

Conditions are “expected to deteriorate along the coast of North Carolina by this evening,” the center said, adding that people “are cautioned against swimming at most U.S. East Coast beaches due to life-threatening surf and rip currents.”

Erin, the first Atlantic hurricane of 2025, was downgraded to a Category 2 storm Tuesday morning as it churned over the Atlantic Ocean north of the Caribbean. It previously exploded to a Category 5 on Saturday before weakening to a Category 3 early Sunday morning, then regaining strength again later in the day. It’s forecast to retain hurricane strength into the weekend.

It was forecast to threaten the East Coast, Atlantic Canada, the Bahamas and Bermuda with “life-threatening surf and rip currents” over the next several days, according to the hurricane center.

Simply put, “Swimming at most U.S. East Coast beaches will remain dangerous over the next few days” due to those life-threatening rip currents, the center said early Wednesday.

As of 5 a.m. Wednesday, Erin had maximum sustained winds of 100 mph and was moving north-northwest at 13 mph. The storm’s center was about 555 miles west-southwest of Bermuda and some 455 miles south-southeast of Cape Hatteras, North Carolina. 

A Category 2 hurricane is defined as having maximum sustained winds from 96 mph to 110 mph. Erin was just under what’s considered a major storm, capable of causing devastating damage with maximum sustained winds of at least 111 mph. Forecasters said fluctuations in Erin’s intensity were possible over the next few days.

Maps show Hurricane Erin’s forecast path

The center of the storm was expected to move over the western Atlantic between the U.S. East Coast and Bermuda today through early Friday, then pass south of Atlantic Canada Friday and Saturday, the hurricane center said.

Erin was already a large storm and growing early Wednesday, with hurricane-force winds extending outward up to 90 miles from the center and tropical storm-force winds extending up to 265 miles from the center, forecasters said.

Tropical storm warnings are in effect for north of Duck, North Carolina to the North Carolina/Virginia border and Beaufort Inlet, North Carolina to the North Carolina/Virginia border, including Pamlico and Albemarle sounds. A tropical storm watch is posted for north of the North Carolina/Virginia border to Chincoteague, Virginia, and for Bermuda. A tropical storm warning means tropical storm conditions are expected somewhere within the warning area, while a watch means they are possible.

A storm surge warning was also issued for the Outer Banks, meaning there was a danger of life-threatening inundation from coastal flooding that was expected to start Wednesday.

Hurricane Erin’s “spaghetti models”

A “spaghetti map” of the forecast models shows the storm skirting the Caribbean islands and remaining well offshore of the U.S. East Coast as it moves north and curves back over the Atlantic.

A high-pressure system in the Atlantic was expected to steer Erin away from the U.S. coast while a cold front was also forecast to push the hurricane offshore, CBS News Bay Area meteorologist Jessica Burch reported.

When is Hurricane Erin expected to impact the U.S.?    

Erin isn’t forecast to hit the U.S. directly.

The worst conditions are expected late Wednesday through Thursday, when the center of Erin was expected to be at its closest point to the coast, according to the weather service. At that time, forecasters warn, severe flooding could reach buildings and roads along the Outer Banks. Many roadways will likely be under several feet of water and inaccessible for several days due to the flooding.

Mandatory evacuations were ordered for Hatteras Island and Ocracoke Island in the Outer Banks ahead of the expected flooding.

Coastal areas along the Eastern Seaboard will feel the effects of Erin with dangerous rip currents and high waves of 10 to over 20 feet over the next several days.

Mike Brennan, the hurricane center’s director, said the dangerous conditions were expected to last for much of the week across almost the entire East Coast. He urged people to heed any warnings from local officials.

“It’s just not going to be a very safe environment to be in the ocean,” Brennan said.

Rip currents a potentially deadly threat

Rip currents are narrow channels of fast-moving water that commonly occur along U.S. coastlines and can pull even strong swimmers away from shore. They’re the reason for more than 80% of beach rescues.

In addition to the warnings along the North Carolina coast, some beaches ranging from South Florida up to New England are also taking precautions.

Erin is expected to bring dangerous rip currents along the Jersey Shore and south-facing New York beaches, CBS News New York reported, with the risk continuing through the week. Officials at some New Jersey beaches and the popular summer destination of Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, have already prohibited swimming as a precaution, and more closures may follow.

“You’re allowed on the beach, but you will not be allowed in the water because we have treacherous conditions going on right now,” said Ed Schneider, beach patrol captain in Wildwood, New Jersey, told CBS News Philadelphia. “We have a rip current warning, we have [a] rough surf warning, we have [a] storm warning, and conditions are bad.”

First hurricane of the Atlantic season

Erin formed as a tropical storm last week west of the island nation of Cabo Verde, a few hundred miles off Africa’s western coast. It is the fifth named storm of the 2025 Atlantic hurricane season, which started in June and runs through November. Erin strengthened to a hurricane on Friday.

So far this year, Tropical Storm Chantal is the only one to have made landfall in the U.S., bringing deadly flooding to North Carolina in early July. In June, Barry made landfall as a tropical depression on Mexico’s eastern coast.

Erin’s increased strength comes as the Atlantic hurricane season approaches its peak in September. According to the hurricane center, most of the season’s activity typically happens between mid-August and mid-October. In the eastern Pacific Ocean, hurricane season starts on May 15 with a peak in activity typically seen in late August.

The U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, or NOAA, forecast an above-normal season for the Atlantic this year, expecting between 13 and 18 named storms.

Tropical storms have maximum sustained winds of at least 39 mph. Forecasters with NOAA anticipated that between five and nine of the storms this year could become hurricanes, which have sustained winds of at least 74 mph. Hurricanes are rated on a scale based on their wind speeds, ranging from Category 1, the weakest, to Category 5, the most severe rating.

NOAA forecasters predicted there could be between two and five major hurricanes in the Atlantic this season.

Nikki Nolan

contributed to this report.