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.

Erin is the first hurricane to develop over the Atlantic this year, and meteorologists are closely tracking its path and forecast.

This threat will steadily increase Tuesday through Thursday night, gradually decreasing heading into the weekend, forecasters said.

After exploding in strength at a historic rate this weekend, Hurricane Erin is now a sprawling Category 4 storm churning in the Atlantic. The storm’s enormous footprint is becoming the biggest concern as it threatens to drive life-threatening rip currents and towering waves toward the eastern US coastline and Bermuda.

Hurricane Erin is expected to bring life-threatening surf and rip currents across the U.S. eastern seaboard this week, according to the National Hurricane Center. It is now a Category 4 storm with maximum sustained winds of 130 mph.

Hurricane Erin is forecast to continue growing in size, with hurricane-force winds extending up to 50 miles from its center.

As of Monday morning, Erin is on a steady course to curve around Bermuda and parallel the East Coast. Hurricane Erin weakened from its peak Ccategory 5 status on Saturday due to some structural changes and eyewall replacement cycles in addition to moving away from the best environment for intensification.

Hurricane Erin continues to rapidly intensify in the Atlantic Ocean with its outer bands starting to impact the northern Leeward Islands.