Storms that ramp up so quickly complicate forecasting for meteorologists and make it harder for government agencies to plan for emergencies. Hurricane Erick, a Pacific storm that made landfall June 19 in Oaxaca, Mexico, also strengthened rapidly, doubling in intensity in less than a day.

Hurricane Erin rapidly intensified Saturday, becoming the first Category 5 hurricane of the Atlantic season after strengthening from a tropical storm in just 24 hours. The National Hurricane Center reported that Erin's maximum sustained winds more than doubled to 160 mph (255 kph) by late Saturday morning.

With the perfect conditions for rapid intensification, Hurricane Erin became a Category 5 storm overnight, triggering warnings of potential flooding and landslides in northern Leeward Islands, Virgin Islands,

Officials in the northern Caribbean are warning of heavy rains and dangerous swells as Tropical Storm Erin approaches the region.

Erin is the first hurricane to develop over the Atlantic this year, and meteorologists are closely tracking its path and forecast.

As of Wednesday afternoon, Tropical Storm Erin is churning in the Atlantic Ocean and moving toward the Caribbean, likely to become the season’s first hurricane, a storm with sustained winds above 74 miles per hour.