It's mid-August in the Northern Hemisphere, so you know what that means!
Thus it shouldn't be too surprising at this point to see an absolute barn-burner of a hurricane out in the Atlantic:
Via CNN:
Hurricane Erin is churning up life-threatening rip currents and dangerous surf along much of the US East Coast and will soon send destructive waves and storm surge to North Carolina's Outer Banks. Meanwhile, Atlantic hurricane season is hitting its stride, threatening to spin up another named storm in Erin's wake.
The storm is a high-end Category 2, just edging into Category 3 status; it was earlier an even more monstrous Category 5, though it has weakened over the last 24 hours.
Thankfully, the storm isn't expected to make landfall. But its track alongside the East Coast is still threatening to wreak havoc along coastal communities.
The storm, meanwhile, is strong enough that Atlantic shipping lanes have largely rerouted themselves around it:
No wonder:
The storm is already wreaking havoc as far north as Wilmington, North Carolina:
Other locations even farther north are already reporting increased surf activity:
And that's the big warning regarding this storm: The entire East Coast is at risk for rip currents this week.
Don't go swimming in the Atlantic until this thing passes by, folks!
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