Environment

Hurricane Erin Rapidly Intensifies to Category 5 Storm

AUG 16 2025·Updated SEP 23 2025

Story

Above: Hurricane Erin crosses the Atlantic Ocean as it moves west on Aug. 16, 2025. Image credit: NOAA/Getty Images

The Facts

Hurricane Erin rapidly intensified from a tropical storm with 75 miles per hour winds on Friday morning to a Category 5 hurricane with sustained winds of 160 miles per hour by Saturday morning, representing an 85 miles per hour increase in wind speed within 24 hours.
The Weather Channel
CNN
New York Post
The National Hurricane Center reported that Erin was located approximately 105 miles north of Anguilla as of Saturday morning, moving west at 17 miles per hour while passing north of the Leeward Islands, Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico.
Huffington Post
CNN
National Hurricane Center
Tropical storm watches were issued for St. Martin, St. Barthelemy and St. Maarten, with forecasters warning that heavy rainfall could produce 2 to 4 inches of rain and localized amounts up to 6 inches in some areas.
Huffington Post
CNN
Fox Weather
The U.S. Coast Guard directed the closure of six seaports in Puerto Rico and two ports in the U.S. Virgin Islands to all inbound vessel traffic unless authorized explicitly due to the approaching hurricane conditions.
Huffington Post
United States Coast Guard News
Daily Mirror
Hurricane Erin is forecast to double or triple in size by the middle of next week, which is expected to generate dangerous surf conditions and rip currents along the U.S. East Coast from Florida to Massachusetts despite remaining offshore.
USA Today
The Weather Channel
Fox Weather
Erin, the first major hurricane of the 2025 Atlantic hurricane season, is only the fifth Category 5 hurricane on record to form this early in the season, with the first hurricane typically forming around Aug. 11.
USA Today
New York Post
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The Spin

Climate-concerned narrative

Hurricane Erin rapidly intensified over unusually warm Atlantic waters, heated by human-caused pollution. While climate change didn't directly cause the storm, it made the ocean heat — a key factor in the storm's explosive growth — at least 100 times more likely. These extreme temperatures, driven by global warming, provided the fuel for Erin's sudden strengthening, illustrating how climate change is making powerful hurricanes more frequent by enhancing the conditions that allow them to intensify quickly.

The Associated Press

Climate-skeptic narrative

Rapid intensification is nothing new in hurricane history. Decades of data show no increase in the frequency of rapid intensification events, from Camille in 1969 to recent storms. What's changed is that satellite technology is now able to catch every development of a storm, while media coverage and some researchers increasingly spin natural weather patterns into climate crisis narratives.