Despite this, the US National Hurricane Center (NHC) says Erin is growing in size, with tropical-storm-strength winds extending 205 miles from its centre. Storm-related hazards, including flash flooding and landslides, are expected in the Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico.

A heat advisory has been issued for the Dallas-Fort Worth area and points east, as a powerful and rapidly intensifying Hurricane Erin churns in the Caribbean.

An eyewall replacement cycle is underway within Hurricane Erin as the monster storm continues to barrel across the Atlantic while bringing gusty winds and rain to Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands after rapidly intensifying into a catastrophic Category 5 hurricane over the weekend.

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

Erin, the first hurricane of the season, is now forecast to become a Category 4 by Sunday. Here's where it could head in the week ahead.

Hurricane hunters with the NOAA flew through the eye of Hurricane Erin after it rapidly intensified into a rare Category 5 hurricane. Erin is expected to continue to fluctuate in intensity as it undergoes an eyewall replacement cycle.