‘Near historic’ Erin among largest 10% of hurricanes ever recorded in Atlantic at over 500 miles wide
Hurricane Erin is one of the largest storms to ever pass the Eastern Seaboard — stretching more than 500 miles wide as the behemoth cyclone churns up 80-foot waves.
Erin, the first major hurricane of the 2025 Atlantic season, was described as “near historical” by Fox Weather meteorologist Jarrod Maloney.
Maloney said Erin’s sheer size ranks it among the 10% biggest hurricanes ever recorded in the Atlantic and it’s only expected to widen as it heads northeast.
“It is larger than most storms,” Maloney said. “This area of the Atlantic has larger sized storms than other parts of the Atlantic, larger than the Gulf of Mexico.”
Erin mercifully did not make landfall and is not forecast to, but the storm still left swaths of the East Coast on high alert as huge waves crashed ashore.
North Carolina’s outer banks were hit particularly hard, with waves up to 20 feet barreling into the exposed beaches and swamping the vulnerable communities.
Waves have also reached 10 feet and more across other eastern coastlines as the storm passed.
But those swells are nothing compared to what one National Weather Service buoy measured about 150 miles off the North Carolina coast as the storm passed overhead — where waves Thursday morning averaged about 40 feet.
Some even reached as high as 80 feet at times.
Erin remained a Category 2 storm with winds around 100-mph into Thursday evening, and began moving away from the North Carolina’s battered coast.
It is expected to continue bringing serious waves and rip currents up the East Coast, where some cities and states have closed their public beaches.
New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy declared a state of emergency over warnings about possible flooding in beachside towns.
Big Apple beaches began feeling the storm’s effects in earnest Thursday — where some brave souls defied the closures to surf the waves — and will continue being pounded into Friday.
The city itself and inland areas throughout New England are not expected to experience any serious adverse conditions.
Fox Weather predicted the storm’s effects will have passed by Monday morning.
