Erin strengthens to Category 5 hurricane
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Forecasters are tracking a new disturbance in the Atlantic Ocean as Hurricane Erin, a Category 5 storm, undergoes an eyewall replacement cycle, according to a Saturday night update from the National Hurricane Center.
Over the weekend, northern portions of the Leeward Islands, the Virgin Islands, and Puerto Rico are expected to receive tropical rain ranging from 2 to 4 inches, with isolated totals up to 6 inches. Flash flooding, landslides and mudslides will be the main concerns over the next several days.
Hurricane Erin could 'at least double or triple in size' next week and the track has shifted south, but remains likely to turn away from the East Coast.
While a Gulf disturbance that moved into Texas on Friday seems to have run its course, Hurricane Erin in the western Atlantic intensifies.
Jean-Raymond Bidlot, senior scientist in ocean modeling at the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) told Newsweek that Erin is forecast to strengthen over the next week as it heads toward the U.S. East Coast, reaching peak intensity offshore from Cape Hatteras.
Erin formed in the eastern Atlantic Ocean on Monday and is strengthening as it moves westward. The NHC said there is still uncertainty about what impact it could have on states like Florida on the U.S. East Coast, as well as the Bahamas and Bermuda.
Forecasters are watching a tropical disturbance with very high chances of formation as it moves west of Africa in the Atlantic Ocean. The low pressure system, causing strong winds and rough seas, is near the northwest Cabo Verde Islands and has a 90% chance of organizing into a tropical depression over the next two days.
Even if a tropical depression does not form over the next day or so, environmental conditions appear conducive for later development, and a tropical depression is likely to form by the middle to latter portion of this