Hurricane Erin on Wednesday grew in size as it made its way up into the Atlantic off the U.S. East Coast with tropical-storm conditions forecast to hit North Carolina and dangerous surf left

Even though Erin is expected to stay hundreds of miles offshore, its impacts are forecast to worsen as it crawls northward and makes its closest approach to the U.S. mainland. Erin was generating waves of 35 feet or more at an ocean buoy east-northeast of the Bahamas on Aug. 19, creating swells and stirring up a broad swath of the ocean.