Hurricane Erin weakened to a Category 3 storm with maximum sustained winds of 125 mph while its outer bands pounded the Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico with gusty winds and heavy rains early Sunday.

U.S. shores are unlikely to see a direct hit, but a strong offshore hurricane can produce massive and dangerous waves well away from its center.

Powerful 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 for a time Saturday before becoming a Category 4,

The NHC said it currently expected Erin to become a Category 4 storm later Saturday but to eventually swerve away from the continental United States.

After rapidly growing to a Category 5 storm in the span of 24 hours, Hurricane Erin is now back to Category 3 on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale. As of Sunday morning, the National Hurricane Center said,

Hurricane Erin is forecast to remain well offshore but still bring hazardous currents and possible erosion like previous offshore hurricanes before it.

While the most likely track keeps Erin offshore from the U.S. East Coast, shifts in the storm’s path could bring strong winds, heavy rain, and coastal flooding to parts of the eastern United States and Bermuda.