Hurricane Erin began moving away from the North Carolina coast on Thursday, turning northeastward after bringing tropical storm conditions to the state’s Outer Banks, the National Hurricane Center in Miami said as it cautioned people not to swim at most U.S. East Coast beaches due to “life-threatening surf and rip currents.”
Erin isn’t expected to make landfall in the U.S., but storm surge warnings remain in place for parts of North Carolina, and parts of the Outer Banks are under evacuation orders. North Carolina Gov. Josh Stein declared a state of emergency in the state.
“This is a life-threatening situation,” the Miami-based National Hurricane Center said in its 5 p.m. ET update Thursday. “Persons located within these areas should take all necessary actions to protect life and property from rising water and the potential for other dangerous conditions.”
Meanwhile, a tropical storm warning remains in effect for a swath of the North Carolina and Virginia coastline, as well as Bermuda.
What category is Hurricane Erin?
Erin, the first Atlantic hurricane of 2025, was a Category 2 storm on Thursday as it churned over the Atlantic off the southeast U.S. coast.
It exploded to a Category 5 on Saturday before being downgraded, and its strength fluctuated in recent days.
As of Thursday at 5 p.m., Erin had maximum sustained winds of 100 mph and was moving northeast at 20 mph, according to an advisory from the National Hurricane Center. The storm’s center was about 370 miles east of Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, and 375 miles northwest of Bermuda.
The hurricane center said “gradual weakening is forecast during the next couple of days” and “Erin is expected to become post-tropical on Saturday.”
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.
NOAA 
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 through early Friday, then pass south of Atlantic Canada on Friday and Saturday, the hurricane center said.
Erin is a “large and growing” storm, with hurricane-force winds extending outward up to 105 miles from the center and tropical storm-force winds extending up to 320 miles from the center, forecasters said.
Tropical storm warnings were in effect from Duck, North Carolina, to Chincoteague, Virginia, as well as 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.
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.
CBS News 
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, though tropical storm conditions were hitting parts of the Outer Banks on Thursday.
CBS News 
Forecasters warned of dangerous storm surge combining with high tide could flood areas with as much as 2 feet to 4 feet of water. Evacuations were ordered for Hatteras Island and Ocracoke Island in the Outer Banks ahead of the expected flooding. Some homes in Rodanthe appeared on the verge of collapse.
Rough ocean conditions were also expected to cause life-threatening surf and rip currents. Hatteras and Ocracoke islands were vulnerable to waves of 15 feet to 20 feet, forecasters said. The dangerous conditions resulted in dozens of people being rescued this week in Wrightsville Beach, North Carolina.
CBS News 
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. The National Hurricane Center reported that when Erin’s center passed a NOAA buoy in the Atlantic Ocean, the device recorded a maximum wave height of 45 feet.
“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, 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.
CBS News 
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.
contributed to this report.
