Hurricane Erin strengthens to a fierce Category 5 storm in the Atlantic [View all]

Source: USA Today

Updated Aug. 16, 2025, 12:39 p.m. ET


Hurricane Erin has strengthened into a fearsome Category 5 hurricane with sustained winds of 160 mph as the storm travels west over the Atlantic.

The hurricane is not expected to make a direct hit on the United States, but it will still drive dangerous surf conditions along the East Coast. Erin is expected to make a turn to the west-northwest later in the day and a turn north after the weekend, passing north of islands in the Caribbean.

"We still expect this to eventually make a more northward turn and stay offshore of the East Coast of the United States. So that certainly is good news when dealing with a storm this powerful," AccuWeather senior meteorologist Dan Pydynowski told USA TODAY.

Erin is only the fifth Category 5 hurricane on record to form this early in the hurricane season and the only Category 5 observed outside the Gulf or Caribbean this early in the year, according to WPLG-TV hurricane specialist Michael Lowry. Under the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale, the minimum threshold for Category 5 winds is 157 mph. Category 5 hurricanes are the strongest possible, according to the scale.

Read more: https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/weather/2025/08/16/hurricane-erin-major-storm-tracker/85688851007/