Tropical Storm Erin has begun strengthening as it streaks west across the Atlantic and is on track to reach hurricane status as soon as Friday, prompting tropical storm watches in the northern Leeward Islands.

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.

Erin, the first hurricane of the 2025 Atlantic season, "explosively deepened and intensified" on Saturday into a Category 5 storm, before briefly losing force and now regaining strength. More than 150,