"Catastrophic" Category 5 Hurricane Erin is expected to Further Intensify

BRADENTON — Hurricane Erin intensified into a "catastrophic" Category 5 storm Saturday morning. The National Hurricane Center expects the storm to double or triple in size by the middle of the week.

As of this morning, Hurricane Erin was located about 105 miles northeast of Anguilla, which is east of the British Virgin Islands. The storm was moving west-northwest at 20 mph and had maximum sustained winds of 160 mph.

Moving through waters that are significantly warmer than the historical average, both at the surface and hundreds of feet below, and with very little dry air and wind shear, AccuWeather has described the conditions as "near-perfect" for rapid intensification.

Erin's eye is expected to move just north of the northern Leeward Islands, the Virgin Islands, and Puerto Rico over the weekend, according to the National Hurricane Center. After moving past the Caribbean islands, the severity of Erin's impact on the U.S. East Coast will depend on the storm's track.