Erin, moving near the Leeward Islands, strengthened into a hurricane on Friday morning and is expected to become a major hurricane by the weekend, the National Hurricane Center said.

Erin is currently packing maximum sustained winds of 70 mph, with a minimum central pressure of 997 mb and tropical-storm-force winds extending up to 90 miles from its center. The storm is expected to steadily strengthen and could become a major hurricane by this weekend – Cat. 4 by Sunday.