Erin’s sustained winds increased to 70 mph, just 4 mph shy of hurricane strength. The hurricane center said Erin should continue to strengthen through the weekend, when it should be moving near or north of the Leeward Islands, according to the official forecast path.

Erin is the planet’s second Category 5 storm of 2025, arriving exactly four months after the first one. Cyclone Errol developed off the coast of northwest Australia and rapidly intensified from cat 1 to cat 5 strength in less than 24 hours on April 15–16. Errol then weakened drastically before coming onshore as a tropical low.

The National Hurricane Center (NHC) has warned that Tropical Storm Erin is expected to strengthen and could become a major hurricane over the weekend as it shifts just north of the northern Leeward Islands,