Forecasters said Erin should begin to slowly weaken as it increased wind shear. However, it's predicted to remain a major hurricane until late next week.

It quickly powered up from a tropical storm to a Category 5 in a single day, the National Hurricane Center said.

There is growing confidence that Tropical Storm Erin will curve north early next week as it approaches the Caribbean and U.S. East Coast, potentially sparing those areas the worst impacts of what could be a powerful storm.