The models indicate one of the most powerful storms in the North Atlantic in August, bringing significant sea force to Fuerteventura.
The powerful hurricane, the first of the 2025 Atlantic season, has reached category 5, the highest on the Saffir-Simpson scale, following an explosive intensification that has made it one of the most violent and fastest storms in recent Atlantic history.
According to data from the US National Hurricane Center (NHC), Erin’s sustained winds increased from 160 km/h to over 257 km/h in just 24 hours, an exceptional and concerning phenomenon.
So far, Erin is one of 43 category 5 hurricanes recorded in the Atlantic since records began. Its occurrence in August, outside the Gulf of Mexico, makes it even more exceptional, placing it within a worrying pattern of rapidly intensifying storms, becoming more frequent due to global warming and rising ocean temperatures.
Expert Tomer Burg, @burgwx, commented on his X account that “Erin intensified at a rate of up to 7.8 hPa/h during some hours of 16 August.” He later noted that while it wasn’t a record-breaking event, it still ranks among the top for Atlantic hurricanes, especially over a 6-hour period.
From powerful hurricane to record-breaking mid-latitude depression
Following Erin’s extraordinary intensification as a hurricane, the NHC forecasts that the system will recurvate off the North American coast without directly affecting land, and by 21-22 August, it could downgrade to category 1-2.
The tropical system would come under the influence of the extratropical jet, thereby ending its tropical phase with a transition to an extratropical depression around 23-24 August 2025, with the usual uncertainties. Subsequently, it could approach the British Isles as a large depression.
The influence of Erin will be felt on the island of Fuerteventura in the form of cloudiness, the possibility of drizzles, but mainly with significant sea force, with waves potentially reaching heights of 3 meters, unusual for this time of year in the islands.
