Powerful Hurricane Erin has undergone a period of astonishingly rapid intensification — a phenomenon that has become far more common in recent years as the planet warms. It was a rare Category 5 for a time Saturday before becoming a Category 4, churning through the Atlantic Ocean north of the Caribbean.

As of 7 a.m. CDT Monday, the center of Category 4 Hurricane Erin was located about 115 miles north-northeast of Grand Turk Island, or 890 miles south-southeast of Cape Hatteras, N.C., and was tracking to the northwest at 13 mph.