Erin became the first hurricane of the 2025 Atlantic season on Friday and was expected to continue strengthening, forecasters said.

Storms that ramp up so quickly complicate forecasting and make it harder for government agencies to plan for emergencies. Hurricane Erick, a Pacific storm that made landfall June 19 in Oaxaca, Mexico, also strengthened rapidly, doubling in intensity in less than a day.

The National Hurricane Center is monitoring two disturbances in the Atlantic. A third, Tropical Storm Dexter, the fourth named storm of the season, continues to move out to sea. Why it matters: August is usually when hurricane season ramps up,

The National Hurricane Center is tracking Tropical Storm Dexter, Invest 96L and system off the southeastern coast of the United States.

Hurricane Erin is pelting parts of the Caribbean and is forecast to create dangerous surf and rip currents along the U.S. East Coast this week.

A tropical wave was forecast to move off the west coast of Africa in the next day or two. Thereafter, some gradual development of the wave is possible during the middle to latter part of next week while it moves generally west-northwestward across the central tropical Atlantic.

FILE - Mike Brennan, then-branch chief at the National Hurricane Center, gives an update on Hurricane Harvey as it moves toward the Texas coast, Aug. 25, 2017, in Miami.