Meteorologists are closely tracking the projected path and forecast of Hurricane Erin, which is the first hurricane to develop over the Atlantic this year.

A powerful and sprawling Hurricane Erin continued lashing hundreds of miles of coastline along the Eastern Seaboard with its outer bands Thursday morning, proving a storm of such size doesn't need to make landfall to bring widespread impacts.

Officials are urging visitors to begin evacuating at 10 a.m. Monday from Hurricane Evacuation Zone A, which includes the unincorporated villages of Rodanthe, Waves, Salvo, Avon, Buxton, Frisco and Hatteras. Residents are to begin evacuating at 8 a.m. Tuesday.

Hurricane Erin is moving closer to the U.S. coast at the start of the workweek. Strong wind and big waves will cause problems for our North Carolina beaches as summer vacations continue.

Hurricane Erin fluctuated in intensity on Monday and expanded in size as people fled North Carolina's Outer Banks.