Maps show Erin's path off East Coast as it remains a danger to swimmers at many East Coast beaches
Erin, now a post-tropical cyclone, continued moving away from the northeastern U.S. coast on Friday, but swimming at many East Coast beaches "is likely to remain dangerous through the weekend," the National Hurricane Center in Miami said.
Erin became post-tropical on Friday afternoon as it reached cooler waters. It's expected to remain a "large and powerful hurricane-force low-pressure system through the weekend," the center said.
What category is Erin?
Erin, the first Atlantic hurricane of 2025, is now a post-tropical cyclone. It was a Category 1 hurricane earlier Friday as it churned over the Atlantic off the central East Coast. It exploded to a Category 5 on Saturday before being downgraded and its strength fluctuated in recent days.
The storm had maximum sustained winds of 90 mph and was heading east-northeast at 33 mph, according to a 5 p.m. ET Friday advisory from the National Hurricane Center, which noted that it would be the last advisory on Erin. The storm's center at that point was about 375 miles south-southwest of Halifax, Canada, and it was moving out over the North Atlantic.
Maps show Hurricane Erin's forecast path
Erin was forecast to pass south of Atlantic Canada into Friday night and then "race across the north Atlantic waters" in the coming days, the hurricane center said. There are no coastal watches or warnings in effect.
Erin is likely to remain a large and powerful system, with hurricane-force winds extending outward up to 125 miles from the center and tropical-storm-force winds extending outward up to 435 miles, forecasters said Friday.
Hurricane Erin's "spaghetti models"
A "spaghetti map" of forecast models showed the storm skirting the Caribbean islands in its early days and remaining well off the U.S. East Coast as it moved north and curved back over the Atlantic. It's expected to end up "stalling or meandering just south of Iceland" by next week.
Hurricane Erin's effects on the U.S.
Though Erin was hurrying away from the U.S. East Coast on Friday, increased waves and rough surf are expected to continue from the mid-Atlantic up into New England into the weekend.
The hurricane center warned of rough ocean conditions and "life-threatening surf and rip currents" along much of the Eastern Seaboard for the next several days.
Erin brought tropical storm conditions to parts of North Carolina's Outer Banks on Thursday. Evacuations were ordered for Hatteras Island and Ocracoke Island in the Outer Banks ahead of the high waves and expected flooding. The dangerous conditions resulted in dozens of people being rescued this week in Wrightsville Beach. Erin also caused coastal flooding in Virginia, CBS Richmond affiliate WTKR-TV reported.
Farther up the coast, the New York City borough of Queens, as well as Long Island, had some flooding. At beaches in the area and along the Jersey shore, swimming was prohibited due to the high surf and rip currents. Big waves and whipping winds are also bringing dangerous beach conditions to the Massachusetts coast, CBS News Boston reported.
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.
Many beaches from South Florida up to New England took precautions and closed to swimmers.
First hurricane of the Atlantic season
Erin formed as a tropical storm on Aug. 11 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.
