Hurricane Erin Bringing Surge Flooding, Life-Threatening Rip Currents To North Carolina, East Coast
Hurricane Erin's coastal flooding, rip currents and high surf threats will slowly begin to release their grip on the East Coast as the hurricane turns into the north Atlantic. (MORE:Erin Maps Tracker - Spaghetti Models, Forecasts, More) Erin's center is now over 400 miles east-northeast of Hatteras, North Carolina, and has made its anticipated turn to the northeast. Wind gusts as high as 53 mph have been clocked in the Outer Banks of North Carolina, and gusts of at least 40 mph have been measured from the Virginia Tidewater to coastal Delaware and the Jersey shore. Another round of coastal flooding affected the Outer Banks Thursday morning, withsignificant overwash of Highway 12and also on thesound side of Ocracoke Island. A NOAA buoyabout 170 miles east of Hatteras near the center reported winds gusting to 85 mph and up to 45 foot waves early Thursday morning. (MORE:Why A Hurricane's Size Matters) Storm surge warnings for in effect for the North Carolina coast from Cape Lookout to Duck. A tropical storm warning has been issued for Bermuda. This means that tropical storm conditions are expected within 48 hours. As the forecast path graphic below shows, Erin's center will race northeastward between southeast New England and Bermuda and pass well south of Atlantic Canada. Conditions will begin improving in most areas by midday Friday. Erin's strongest hurricane-force winds will remain over the ocean and not affect any land areas. High Surf, Rip Currents Erin is generating life-threatening, dangerous high surf and rip currents all along the East Coast, from the Carolinas to Maine. This will last through the weekend, even as Erin moves into the open waters of the North Atlantic. Of all hurricane hazards, 16% of fatalities come from rip currents and rough seas. Heed all advice from lifeguards, local officials and any warning flags flying at the beach. If in doubt, stay out of the surf on Atlantic beaches this week. Storm Surge Erin's large size means it will push water from the ocean toward coastal areas, leading to flooding of normally dry areas near and at high tide in eastern North Carolina, southern Chesapeake Bay, coastal Delaware, New Jersey and Long Island. The high tide where coastal flooding may be most expansive and significant appears to beThursday evening.That's when inundation may reach the values shown in the map below, flooding roads and possibly some properties, particularly in the Outer Banks. Some minor coastal flooding is also possible into coastal New England at high tides Friday morning and evening. This succession of coastal flooding over multiple high tide cycles, accompanied by battering waves at the coast, may lead to beach erosion, as well. Winds The core of Erin's strongest hurricane winds willnotaffect any part of the U.S. East Coast, Bermuda or Canada. However, given Erin's size, gusty winds will continue into Friday from the Outer Banks to Cape Cod. These winds may down some tree limbs and could knock out power in a few areas. In Bermuda, tropical storm force winds are likely through early Friday. Meteorologists first began watching the area of instability that eventually formed Hurricane Erin several days before the storm was named Monday of this past week. The system remained a tropical storm as it traveled westward across the Atlantic, weakening slightly mid-week as it battled cooler waters. Thanks to warmer waters in the western Atlantic, Erin began a period of explosive rapid intensification starting on Friday, going from a tropical storm to Category 5 in just under 30 hours, and from a Category 3 to a Category 5 in just under 6 hours. Erin has also joined a rare group of only five hurricanes that have wind speeds of at least 145 mph by August 16 since 1970,according to Dr. Phil Klotzbach. Erin is the first Category 5 hurricane since Milton and Beryl in 2024. Erin began to undergo an eyewall replacement cycle on Saturday, setting off a period of fluctuation in intensity and bringing the storm back to Category 4 intensity by Saturday evening. While Erin has been skirting around islands in the Caribbean, a wind gust of 57 mph was recorded on the island Tortola in the British Virgin Islands Saturday evening, but sustained tropical storm force winds have remained to the north of the islands so far. Erin dumped up to 6 inches of rain in Puerto Rico and up to 7 inches of rain in the U.S. Virgin Islands, according to theNational Weather Service. Winds gusted to 53 mph in the Turks and Caicos, as Erin passed near the group of islands southeast of the Bahamas earlier this week, according to the National Hurricane Center. Jennifer Grayis a weather and climate writer for weather.com. She has been covering some of the world's biggest weather and climate stories for the last two decades. Jonathan Erdman is a senior meteorologist at weather.com and has been covering national and international weather since 1996. Extreme and bizarre weather are his favorite topics. Reach out to him onBluesky,X (formerly Twitter)andFacebook.
Hurricane Erin Bringing Surge Flooding, Life-Threatening Rip Currents To North Carolina, East Coast Hurricane Erin's coastal flooding, r...
