Hurricane Erin is about 260 miles east of Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, and is quickly moving away from the East Coast. Erin is very large in size, with hurricane-force winds ext

Strong winds and waves from Hurricane Erin have battered Nantucket and Martha’s Vineyard as dangerous rip currents continue to threaten from the Carolinas to New England.

Hurricane Erin was the fifth named storm of the season. As of Thursday afternoon, the storm is still a Category 2 hurricane with maximum sustained wind speeds of 100 mph. Its path is taking it away from the U.S., after, for the past few days, the storm has skirted the East Coast and caused dangerous waves and life-threatening rip currents.

Hurricane Erin continues its track away from the United States, and the weather conditions in the Philadelphia region will improve considerably on Friday.

Meteorologists piece together the aftereffects in a hurricane’s path, and look ahead to potential future storms.

The National Weather Service expanded its high surf advisories and coastal flood advisories for most of the New England coastline as the unusually large hurricane churned up dangerous rip currents.

The forecast does not call for Hurricane Erin to get too close to Massachusetts, but the storm is causing some beaches to close for swimming as it could create big waves and dangerous rip currents on the coast.