Erin became one of the earliest Category 5 hurricanes on record on Saturday. The storm will lash parts of the northern Caribbean on Sunday and Monday.

Over the weekend, northern portions of the Leeward Islands, the Virgin Islands, and Puerto Rico are expected to receive tropical rain ranging from 2 to 4 inches, with isolated totals up to 6 inches. Flash flooding, landslides and mudslides will be the main concerns over the next several days.

Powerful Hurricane Erin has undergone a period of astonishingly rapid intensification — a phenomenon that has become far more common in recent years as the planet warms. It was a rare Category 5 for a time Saturday before becoming a Category 4,

Hurricane Erin briefly strengthened into a Category 5 storm. It is not expected to make a direct hit on the U.S. but will create dangerous surf.

Erin has intensified to a Category Four Hurricane as it makes its way toward the East Coast of the United States.

Erin is the first hurricane to develop over the Atlantic this year, and meteorologists are closely tracking its path and forecast.

Spaghetti models predict Erin will skirt the U.S. East Coast by hundreds of miles as it moves north through next week.

With the perfect conditions for rapid intensification, Hurricane Erin became a Category 5 storm overnight, triggering warnings of potential flooding and landslides in northern Leeward Islands, Virgin Islands,

COLUMBIA, S.C. — Erin has officially become a hurricane, the first of this season, as it continues its journey across the Atlantic. The storm officially transitioned to a hurricane late Friday morning, with maximum sustained winds of 75 miles an hour, making it a Category 1 hurricane.

Powerful Hurricane Erin has undergone a period of astonishingly rapid intensification — a phenomenon that has become far more common in recent years as the planet warms. It is now a rare Category 5, churning through the Atlantic Ocean north of the Caribbean.