Hurricane Erin, now a Category 2 storm, is moving closer to North Carolina’s Outer Banks, where conditions are expected to deteriorate throughout the day. Some Outer Banks resid

A tropical storm warning has been issued for North Carolina as Hurricane Erin churns up the east coast of the U.S. as a Category 2 storm.

Hurricane Erin is tracking northwest between the U.S. East Coast and Bermuda, bringing dangerous surf and life-threatening rip currents to Florida and the Carolinas through midweek.

Meteorologists are closely tracking the projected path and forecast of Hurricane Erin, which is the first hurricane to develop over the Atlantic this year.

The massive hurricane was picking up speed, traveling north at 14 mph, and its center was located about 295 miles south-southeast of Cape Hatteras, North Carolina. A tropical storm warning is in effect for parts of North Carolina and Virginia as the impacts from Erin spread northward.

Hurricane Erin continues to churn in the Atlantic waters hundreds of miles off the U.S., prompting officials to close beaches along the East Coast from the mid-Atlantic to the Northeast.