Erin is the fifth named storm to develop during the Atlantic hurricane season, which started just over two months ago. Last week, Tropical Storm Dexter formed in the western Atlantic but didn't pose a threat to land. In early July, Tropical Storm Chantal made landfall on the Carolina coast, bringing deadly flooding to the region.

Hurricane forecasters continued to track a tropical wave off the coast of Africa Sunday morning as Hurricane Erin weakened to a Category 3 storm following an eyewall replacement cycle.

Hurricane Erin was downgraded to a Category 3 hurricane early Sunday as a tropical storm warning was issued for the Turks and Caicos Islands and winds and heavy rains whipped the Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico.

Tropical Storm Erin is expected to intensify to hurricane status later today and could bring rough surf and rip currents to the Jersey Shore by next week.

A Gulf disturbance now has a 0% chance of becoming a tropical storm, but it could still  bring rain, high surf and deadly rip currents

A tropical disturbance along the Gulf could develop into a depression before moving into South Texas and northeastern Mexico Friday evening. Any development into a depression would likely be "short-lived," the National Weather Service said.

Tropical Storm Erin -- which is forecast to strengthen into the first hurricane of the Atlantic season by Saturday morning -- won't have a direct impact on the U.S., but it will bring dangerous rip currents to the East Coast.

Extreme rainfall in New Zealand from future cyclones could rise by up to 35%. New high-resolution modeling predicts that rainfall from tropical cyclones will significantly increase under global warming.