Hurricane Erin tracker: Latest path, maps for 1st hurricane of Atlantic season
Erin has become the first hurricane of the Atlantic season, with several areas already on alert for heavy rain while strong waves and rip currents are possible along the East Coast of the United States as early as next week.
As of Saturday night, Hurricane Erin had weakened into a Category 4 storm with maximum sustained winds of 140 mph, the National Hurricane Center said. Fluctuations in the storm's intensity are expected over the next 24 to 48 hours, but Erin is still forecast to remain a major hurricane through at least Wednesday of next week.
Located about 145 miles north-northeast of San Juan, Puerto Rico, Erin continued to lash the U.S. Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico with heavy rains and gusty winds. Downed trees and power poles were reported in around the San Juan area of Puerto Rico. The highest rainfall totals reported along the northern shores of St. Thomas and Puerto Rico ranged between 1 to 2 inches, with locally higher amounts in the British Virgin Islands.
Erin will continue to impact Puerto Rico, Hispaniola and the Turks and Caicos Islands as it gradually turns to the west-northwest tonight before taking on a more northwest or north-northwesterly trajectory on Sunday into Monday.
Tropical storm watches remain in effect for Turks and Caicos.
In the past day, Hurricane Erin displayed an impressive display of rapid intensification overnight into Saturday morning. Over the past 24 hours, Erin's max winds increased from 75 mph Friday morning to 160 mph on Saturday morning, when it reached Category 5 status.
Moving to next week, Erin will continue to move northwest, staying east of the Bahamas. The storm should begin to slow down and turn north by Monday and will track in between Bermuda and the East Coast of the U.S.
The majority of meteorological modeling continues to keep Erin well off the East Coast of the U.S. by hundreds of miles, but large waves and life-threatening rip currents are still expected to reach the coast from Aug. 20 to Aug. 27.
This would not only be dangerous for anyone entering the waters, but also for property along the coast, as erosion -- especially along North Carolina's Outer Banks -- could be a serious threat. The Outer Banks and other parts of North Carolina could see waves of 8 to 12 feet, with other areas of South Carolina and Virginia possibly seeing waves reaching 6 feet next week.
Despite the threat of strong waves along the East Coast, a cold front pushing off of America's coast is expected to keep Erin out to sea and will also bring below-average temperatures to the Northeast next week.
The National Hurricane Center predicted an above-normal hurricane season for the Atlantic.
August, September and October are the most active months of the Atlantic hurricane season, which ends on Nov. 30.
-ABC News' Shawnie Caslin Martucci contributed to this report.
