Hurricane Erin will continue to strengthen as it approaches the Leeward Island and Puerto Rico, where it will threaten with tropical downpours, pounding surf and strong winds.

Hurricane Erin weakened to a Category 3 storm with maximum sustained winds of 125 mph as its outer bands pounded the Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico with gusty winds and heavy rains early Sunday.

Erin, the first hurricane of the season, is now a powerful Category 5 hurricane. Here's where it could head in the week ahead.

BEAUMONT, Texas — Tropical Storm Erin is moving quickly westward across the Atlantic Ocean and could strengthen into a hurricane by late Thursday, prompting the National Hurricane Center to advise residents of the northern Leeward Islands, Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico to monitor the storm's progress.

While a Gulf disturbance that moved into Texas on Friday seems to have run its course, Hurricane Erin in the western Atlantic intensifies.

At 2 AM AST, Erin’s maximum winds have dropped to 125 mph, taking the storm back to a Category 3 hurricane. The center is 140 miles of San Juan Puerto Rico, advancing west-northwest at 14 mph with a central pressure of 940 mb (millibars).