Hurricane Sam is being forecasted to cause dangerous effects to the East Coast this weekend, as the powerful storm continues to travel across the Atlantic Ocean.

Forecasters have been keeping an eye on Hurricane Sam, which rapidly increased to a Category 4 hurricane on Saturday. It started to catch attention when it changed direction, moving more westward than expected from its original location far out in the Atlantic.

The hurricane is slowly creeping its way closer to the U.S.

“For a couple of days as it strengthened again and through early Wednesday midday, Hurricane Sam was the most powerful storm on the planet. The Category 4 hurricane was packing 130-mph maximum sustained winds and churning 405 miles to the east-northeast of the northern Leeward Islands and moving northwestward at 9 mph,” according to AccuWeather.

Sam is expected to be able to stay strong enough to seriously affect the shores and outer waters of the U.S. East Coast. Currently, islands in the Atlantic are reaping the strong effects of the storm.

“Large swells generated by Sam are affecting the Leeward Islands and will spread to portions of the Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico, Hispaniola, the Bahamas, and Bermuda by Thursday or Friday. Significant swells will likely reach the East Coast of the United States and Atlantic Canada by the weekend,” according to the National Hurricane Center. “These swells will likely cause life-threatening surf and rip current conditions, and beachgoers and other interests along these coasts are urged to follow the advice of lifeguards and local officials through the upcoming weekend.”

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