In recent decades, the Atlantic has been warming at record rates, helping hurricanes explode into powerhouses.

Erin briefly became a Category 5 hurricane over the weekend and weakened to Category 3 status as it moved north and west of Puerto Rico this weekend. It is now a Category 4 storm and will be moving more north in the next few days.

Hurricane Erin strengthened back into a Category 4 storm as U.S. officials warned of dangerous rip currents this week.

The monster storm intensified to a Category 4 with 140 mph (225 kph) maximum sustained winds early Monday while it started to lash the Turks and Caicos Islands and the southeast Bahamas, according to the U.S. National Hurricane Center in Miami.

Much of North Carolina’s Outer Banks region is under a tropical storm watch with Hurricane Erin expected to skirt the area Wednesday through Thursday, according to the National Hurricane Center.

This past weekend, Hurricane Erin went through one of the most rapid intensifications of any Atlantic hurricane on record. Climate change and other factors may make such leaps more common in

Parts of North Carolina's Outer Banks are under mandatory evacuation orders, as the National Hurricane Center warns that Hurricane Erin could bring tall waves topping 15 to 20 feet.

Hurricane Erin was a Category 4 storm again Monday morning and is expected to grow even larger and stronger, according to the latest advisory from the National Hurricane Center. Although Erin is forecast to move north between the U.S. and Bermuda, life-threatening surf and rip currents are likely across the Atlantic coast from Florida to Canada.