Latest on Erin, Plains heat

Hurricane Erin will bring dangerous surf, rip currents and coastal flooding to parts of the East Coast. Heat builds across the Plains, Rockies and parts of the Mid-South. These details, along with our daily tropical outlook, are published every weekday at 5 a.m. ET.

The WeatherRadar shows Hurricane Erin off the coast of Florida for much of today. As this storm threads the needle between the East Coast and Bermuda, it will bring life-threatening rip currents, high surf and coastal flooding. Scroll down to the tropical outlook for more details.

Low pressure will bring rain to the eastern Great Lakes today, with the attached cold front bringing some isolated showers and storms to the upper Mississippi River Valley and central Plains. Those in cities like Tulsa, Okla., Kansas City, Mo., and Detroit may find themselves reaching for the rain gear today.

Surges of monsoonal moisture into the Southwest will spark isolated to scattered showers and thunderstorms, some of which will be capable of producing downpours and spotty instances of flash flooding.

The TemperatureRadar shows steamy conditions across parts of the Rockies, Plains, Midwest, and Middle and Lower Mississippi Valleys. Record highs may be set today in Billings, Mont., Grand Junction, Colo., and Salt Lake City.

Hurricane Erin is a category 2 storm with sustained winds of 110 mph, moving northwest at 7 mph. Erin moves east of Florida today. This morning, wind shear is weakening the storm; however, Erin will strengthen back into a major hurricane tomorrow as it moves into more favorable conditions. While Erin will curve and is not expected to be a direct threat to the U.S. East Coast, high surf, rip currents and coastal erosion are concerns.

Two tropical waves behind Erin will need to be was closely. The first tropical wave behind Erin now has a 60% of development over the next 7 days, and the one behind that has a 30% chance of development.

Atlantic Hurricane Season starts to ramp up in August and September. Learn more about how our hurricane alerts work here.