Tropical Storm Erin becomes 1st hurricane of 2025 season

By Jorge Antonio Rocha

MEXICO CITY (AA) — Tropical Storm Erin became the first hurricane of the 2025 Atlantic season on Friday and is expected to pass north of the Leeward Islands in the Caribbean Sea on Saturday, according to the US National Hurricane Center (NHC).

The tropical storm intensified into a Category 1 hurricane - the weakest - in the early hours of Friday, with sustained winds of 75 miles per hour (120 kilometers per hour) and moving west-northwest at 18 miles (29 kilometers) per hour.

The NHC warned that the outer bands of Erin will bring heavy rainfall ranging from 2 to 4 inches (50 to 100 millimeters), with isolated maximums of up to 6 inches, throughout the weekend in the northern Leeward Islands, the Virgin Islands, and Puerto Rico.

Erin is forecast to gain strength and territory in the coming days, unleashing strong winds and heavy rainfall well into next week.

“After 48 hours, the hurricane is forecast to encounter some northerly to northwesterly vertical shear that should at least slow development. However, the global and regional hurricane models are in good agreement that Erin will become a powerful and increasingly large hurricane over the southwestern Atlantic over the weekend and into next week,” read an NHC report.

The hurricane agency added that while the threat of direct impact to the Bahamas or the US east coast appears to be decreasing, a significant risk of “dangerous surf and rip currents” along western Atlantic beaches remains for next week.