The massive hurricane was picking up speed, traveling north at 14 mph, and its center was located about 295 miles south-southeast of Cape Hatteras, North Carolina. A tropical storm warning is in effect for parts of North Carolina and Virginia as the impacts from Erin spread northward.

"Heavy rainfall is possible on the Outer Banks of North Carolina, with potential for a maximum of 4 inches," NHC said Tuesday.

The storm is bringing dangerous conditions to parts of the coast on Wednesday, but will then turn away from the United States.

Hurricane Erin's push up alongside the east coast is bringing rough seas and high winds to Cape Cod and the Islands, disrupting ferry travel in the waning weeks of summer.

Erin may strengthen into a major Category 3 hurricane Wednesday night, forecasters say. The worst impacts at the Jersey Shore will occur on Thursday.

A Spirit Airlines plane appears to have flown through Hurricane Erin this week when the hurricane was a Category 4 storm with winds well over 100 mph, according to a flight path shared on social media. Spirit Airlines told Newsweek in a statement that the flight operated normally and no injuries were reported.

Rough surf and strong winds from Hurricane Erin​ are battering beaches, and the storm is expected to cause major erosion.

Hurricane Erin has battered North Carolina’s Outer Banks with strong winds and waves that flooded part of the main highway and surged under beachfront homes.