Erin’s sustained winds increased to 70 mph, just 4 mph shy of hurricane strength. The hurricane center said Erin should continue to strengthen through the weekend, when it should be moving near or north of the Leeward Islands, according to the official forecast path.

It quickly powered up from a tropical storm to a Category 5 in a single day, the National Hurricane Center said.

Forecasters say Hurricane Erin has exploded into a Category 5 storm in the Atlantic Ocean just north of the Caribbean.