Even though Erin is expected to stay hundreds of miles offshore, its impacts are forecast to worsen as it crawls northward and makes its closest approach to the U.S. mainland. Erin was generating waves of 35 feet or more at an ocean buoy east-northeast of the Bahamas on Aug. 19, creating swells and stirring up a broad swath of the ocean.

Hurricane Erin lashes Bahamas and Turks and Caicos with winds, rain, and flooding as forecasters track a new Atlantic tropical threat.

Tropical Storm Watches and Warnings have been issued for parts of North Carolina and Virginia Beach and up to Chincoteague.

The first area has been under the eyes of the National Hurricane Center for a few days as it emerged off Africa’s west coast.

FOX Weather Meteorologist Craig Herrera tracks the next system that has a medium chance of tropical development behind Hurricane Erin in the Atlantic Ocean's Main Development Region.

Tropical Storm Erin, now spinning far out in the central Atlantic Ocean, could undergo rapid intensification into a powerful 125-mph hurricane. According to Direct Weather's forecast, ski resorts like Palisades Tahoe and Mammoth Mountain may see less snow than usual.

Erin developed in the eastern Atlantic, moving westward from the Cabo Verde Islands at about 20 mph (32 km/h). Infrared sensors on NOAA's GOES-19 satellite reveal colder cloud tops and deep convection near the center — signs of a strengthening system feeding on warm ocean waters.

Rough surf conditions and dangerous rip currents have forced many beaches to ban swimming and boogie boarding this week.

Forecasters are tracking two tropical disturbances behind Hurricane Erin, but neither shows signs of becoming an immediate threat to land. One system east of the Lesser Antilles has only a medium chance of development,