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

As of Monday morning, Erin is on a steady course to curve around Bermuda and parallel the East Coast. Hurricane Erin weakened from its peak Ccategory 5 status on Saturday due to some structural changes and eyewall replacement cycles in addition to moving away from the best environment for intensification.

After exploding in strength at a historic rate this weekend, Hurricane Erin is now a sprawling Category 4 storm churning in the Atlantic. The storm’s enormous footprint is becoming the biggest concern as it threatens to drive life-threatening rip currents and towering waves toward the eastern US coastline and Bermuda.

Hurricane Erin was a Category 4 storm again Monday morning and is expected to grow even larger and stronger, according to the latest advisory from the National Hurricane Center. Although Erin is forecast to move north between the U.S. and Bermuda, life-threatening surf and rip currents are likely across the Atlantic coast from Florida to Canada.

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.

Hurricane Erin weakened to a Category 3 storm with maximum sustained winds of 125 mph as its outer bands pounded the Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico with gusty winds and heavy rains Sunday. The U.S. East Coast is forecast to have rough ocean conditions through the middle of the week as the storm strengthens,