Rough surf conditions and dangerous rip currents have forced many beaches to ban swimming and boogie boarding this week.

The Category 2 hurricane saw its winds weaken to as low as 100 mph on Aug. 19 as its north side battled winds, but the National Hurricane Center said early on Aug. 20 that the storm had reformed an inner eye wall, and a Hurricane Hunter mission this morning is expected to help the center determine if winds have increased in response.

Tropical Storm Watches and Warnings have been issued for parts of North Carolina and Virginia Beach and up to Chincoteague.

Besides Erin, we are monitoring two areas of interest in the Atlantic Basin. Both are in the main development region of the Atlantic Ocean. The first has a 60% chance of tropical development over the next 7 days. The latest forecast track keeps this on a similar path as Erin initially, but a little farther to the east once it makes the turn.

“Some gradual development of this system is possible during hte middle to latter portion of thw eeek while the system moves westward to west-northwestward at 15 to 20 mph across teh eastern and central tropical Atlantic,” the hurricane center said.

To realise deepwater exploration ambitions, India has sent its scientists to France to get experience with deepwater exploration in a French submersible. The learnings will be implemented in India’s own deepwater exploration with an Indian submersible.

A new system has emerged in the eastern tropical Atlantic, heading westward toward the Leeward Islands as Hurricane Erin continues to spin.

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 on Saturday before weakening,

New York and New Jersey — along with most East Coast states — are facing threats of life-threatening rip currents and massive waves from Hurricane Erin as the massive Category 2 cyclone continues to churn off the coast.

Nova Scotia RCMP have identified a man who died last week after an encounter with Mounties in Aulds Cove, N.S., but they haven't revealed his name publicly. Just before 9 p.m. on Thursday, Antigonish RCMP were called to reports of a man walking on Highway 104 in Aulds Cove.