North Carolina Ends Most Tropical Storm Warnings as Hurricane Erin Turns Northeast

Tropical storm warning from Duck, North Carolina, north to Chincoteague, Virginia, remains active.

Satellite image of Hurricane Erin as it turns northeast from North Carolina just after 5 p.m. ET on Aug. 21, 2025. (NOAA/NESDIS/STAR - GOES - 19).

The National Hurricane Center (NHC) discontinued its tropical storm warnings for nearly all of the North Carolina coastline at 5 p.m. ET on Aug. 21 as Hurricane Erin moved further northeast.

As of its 5 p.m. advisory, the NHC tracked Hurricane Erin now east-northeast of Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, and 375 miles northwest of Bermuda. Moving at 20 mph, its maximum sustained winds were still steady at 100 mph with hurricane-force winds—74 mph and greater—extending out 105 miles from its center and tropical storm-force winds—39 mph to 73 mph—stretching 320 miles out.

Erin’s distance from the Outer Banks has increased nearly 100 miles in the last three hours, after being located 285 miles away from Cape Hatteras by the NHC’s 2 p.m. advisory update.

Tropical storm conditions are expected to reach Bermuda late on Aug. 21 through early Aug. 22, and gale-force winds are possible in portions of Nova Scotia on Aug. 22, as well as the Avalon Peninsula of Newfoundland on Aug. 23.

All tropical storm warnings south of Duck, North Carolina, were discontinued, but the warning from Duck north to Chincoteague, Virginia, remains active.

Storm surge warnings are also still in effect for the stretch of North Carolina’s Outer Banks from Cape Lookout to Duck, with areas expected to see inundation greater than three feet above what is normally dry ground. According to the National Weather Service’s office in Newport, North Carolina, the highest water levels impacting the area are expected to be reached around 7 p.m. ET, coming in with the high tide.

Dare County officials confirmed that State Highway 12 on Hatteras Island remains closed due to the ocean overwash and dune breaches caused by the hurricane. The most significant impacts occurred in Buxton and Hatteras Village.

A state of emergency and evacuation order for Hatteras Island and all of Dare County remains in effect, and it is unclear when access to the island will be reopened.

North Carolina was the only state that issued a state of emergency and a mandatory evacuation due to this hurricane, which has yet to make landfall.

Wind and water have been battering the U.S. East Coast for several days due to Hurricane Erin’s counterclockwise convection. As much as three feet of storm surge continues to be expected along the coast as far north as Montauk Point on Long Island, New York.

According to the NHC, Hurricane Erin’s center was expected to move over the western Atlantic between the United States and Bermuda through the early morning of Aug. 22 and then pass just off the coast of Canada through Aug. 23. Eastern Canada is advised to consult local watches and warnings issued by Environment Canada.

Hurricane Erin is expected to further deteriorate, devolving into a post-tropical storm on Aug. 23.