Hurricane Erin on Wednesday grew in size as it made its way up into the Atlantic off the U.S. East Coast with tropical-storm conditions forecast to hit North Carolina and dangerous surf left

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.

Hurricane Erin brings dangerous rip currents and high surf to Jacksonville beaches, with the Outer Banks under evacuation and local forecasts showing continued hot weather.

Even though Erin is expected to stay hundreds of miles offshore, its impacts are forecast to worsen as it crawls northward and makes its closest approach to the U.S. mainland. Erin was generating waves of 35 feet or more at an ocean buoy east-northeast of the Bahamas on Aug. 19, creating swells and stirring up a broad swath of the ocean.

On Wednesday morning, Hurricane Erin was several hundred miles off the coast of Florida and beginning to push storm surge and deadly rip currents toward the shore. Two other systems may form right

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.

The International Space Station flew 260 miles over the hurricane as it moved northwest through the Caribbean.

Powerful Hurricane Erin is expected to bring high seas, big rip currents, and rough surf as it moves between the United States and Bermuda.