Much of North Carolina’s Outer Banks region is under a tropical storm watch with Hurricane Erin expected to skirt the area this week, according to the National Hurricane Center. The sprawling Category 4 storm is churning in the Atlantic Monday after exploding in strength at a historic rate this weekend fueling the potential for life-threatening rip currents and towering waves toward the eastern US coastline and Bermuda,

As of the 11 p.m. advisory, Erin was located about 780 miles south-southeast of Cape Hatteras, North Carolina. It was moving northwest at 8 mph with 125-mph maximum sustained wind

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

"The core of Erin is expected to pass to the east of the southeastern and central Bahamas today and tonight," the National Hurricane Center said.

As of 7 a.m. CDT Monday, the center of Category 4 Hurricane Erin was located about 115 miles north-northeast of Grand Turk Island, or 890 miles south-southeast of Cape Hatteras, N.C., and was tracking to the northwest at 13 mph.

The storm is not currently forecast to hit land, but its strong winds are impacting nearby islands, prompting warnings of possible flooding and landslides.

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 is a Category 4 hurricane again, the National Hurricane Center said in its 11 p.m. ET update Sunday, with sustained winds of 130 mph and tropical storm-force winds reaching out 230 miles. The storm was just under a thousand miles southeast of Cape Hatteras,