Storm Erin to become major hurricane as it nears Puerto Rico

Tropical Storm Erin, on track to become the Atlantic season’s first full-fledged hurricane , will churn up dangerous surf and spawn riptides whether it hits land or not, forecasters said Wednesday.

Weather experts on the Leeward Islands — which include the British and U.S. Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico, Hispaniola and the Bahamas — were keeping close watch midweek as Erin lurched toward the Caribbean .

As of late Wednesday morning, Erin still had a “ ragged overall appearance ” and continued to “struggle to intensify,” the National Hurricane Center (NHC) said. But over the next two days it will morph into a hurricane, then a major hurricane two days after that, reaching Category 3, the NHC said.

Wednesday afternoon, Erin was about a thousand miles east of the northern Leeward Island