FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — Hurricane Erin strengthened into a powerful Category 5 storm on Saturday only a day after becoming a hurricane and was forecast to continue intensifying for at least several hours.

NOAA Hurricane Hunters found maximum sustained winds had increased to nearly 160 mph during a pass through the storm just after 11 a.m. Saturday morning, according to the National Hurricane Center. A Category 5 hurricane has maximum sustained wind speeds of 157 mph or higher.

By Saturday evening, winds around Erin were forecast to reach 165 mph. A slow weakening is expected to begin Monday, forecasters said.

The storm joins last year’s Hurricane Milton as one of the fastest-intensifying Atlantic hurricanes. Like Erin, Milton also went from a Category 1 to a Category 5 storm in around 2

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