The first area has been under the eyes of the National Hurricane Center for a few days as it emerged off Africa’s west coast.

Erin is a strong Category 3 hurricane, the National Hurricane Center said in its 8 p.m. ET update Sunday, with sustained winds of 125 mph and tropical storm-force winds reaching out 205 miles. The storm is just over 300 miles northwest of Puerto Rico as of Sunday evening.

Tropical Storm Watches and Warnings have been issued for parts of North Carolina and Virginia Beach and up to Chincoteague.

Cape Verde storms, named for the group of islands about 450 miles (725 kilometers) off the west coast of Africa, typically form from clusters of thunderstorms that move off the continent and into the Atlantic.

Hurricane Erin lashes Bahamas and Turks and Caicos with winds, rain, and flooding as forecasters track a new Atlantic tropical threat.

The Outer Banks and Dare County are popular vacation spots in North Carolina, but Hurricane Erin may be problematic. What Indiana travelers need to know.

A new system has emerged in the eastern tropical Atlantic, heading westward toward the Leeward Islands as Hurricane Erin continues to spin.

A westward-moving tropical wave could produce an area of low pressure in the tropical Atlantic late in the week of Aug. 18, the hurricane center said on Aug. 16. The center shows a 20% chance of storm formation over the next week.

Jean-Raymond Bidlot, senior scientist in ocean modeling at the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) told Newsweek that Erin is forecast to strengthen over the next week as it heads toward the U.S. East Coast, reaching peak intensity offshore from Cape Hatteras.