Tropical Storm Erin's path puts some homeowners at heightened risk, as the storm starts building into a hurricane tracked by meteorologists.

Much of North Carolina’s Outer Banks region is under a tropical storm watch with Hurricane Erin expected to skirt the area Wednesday through Thursday, according to the National Hurricane Center.

A tropical storm watch was issued by the NWS Newport/Morehead City NC on Monday at 4:50 p.m. in effect until Tuesday at 2 a.m. for Ocracoke Island.

Invest 98L, the tropical system that emerged near Mexico early Wednesday, Aug. 13, is tracking toward Texas. Will it impact the state?

A hurricane's category only measures wind speed, not how far those winds extend from the center. The size of a storm's wind field is crucial for predicting storm surge and overall reach.

As Erin grows in size, rough ocean conditions will affect a large portion of the western Atlantic. Forecast products may currently underestimate the likelihood of strong winds beyond 36 hours, as Erin’s wind field is larger than the typical storm used to generate those estimates.

Heavy rains were forecast to start late Friday in Antigua and Barbuda, the U.S. and British Virgin Islands, and southern and eastern Puerto Rico. Up to 4 inches (10 centimeters) are expected, with isolated totals of up to 6 inches (15 centimeters), according to the National Hurricane Center in Miami. Forecasters also warned of dangerous swells.

While Erin is expected to take a northward turn in the Atlantic, a new system off the coast of Africa has the National Hurricane Center's attention.