Hurricane Beryl drops to Category 4 strength after breaking records
Beryl, now a Category 4 hurricane, continues to barrel through the Caribbean Sea with 265 km/h winds.
Hurricane Beryl continues to trek across the Caribbean as a high-end Category 4 storm after bringing "catastrophic winds and life-threatening" storm surge onto the southern Windward Islands Monday, the U.S. National Hurricane Center (NHC) said.
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Beryl swirled into history on Sunday when its maximum winds rapidly intensified to Category 4 status, the earliest such storm ever recorded in the Atlantic.
The mighty storm has since then continued to break records, becoming the earliest storm to reach Category 5 status in the Atlantic and being the earliest major storm in the eastern Atlantic basin.
Beryl weakens a bit, but still destructive storm
A hurricane warning is in effect for Jamaica, Grand Cayman, Little Cayman and Cayman Brac.
Reconnaissance aircraft found that Beryl’s winds have dropped just below Category 5 strength Tuesday afternoon. Destructive winds, life-threatening storm surge flooding, and torrential rains are expected along Beryl’s path.
As of 2 p.m. AST Tuesday, the NHC reported maximum, sustained winds near 250 km/h in its latest update.
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Weakening is forecast later Tuesday, but Beryl is still expected to be near major hurricane intensity as it moves into the central Caribbean and passes near Jamaica on Wednesday and the Cayman Islands on Thursday.
Additional weakening is expected thereafter, though Beryl is forecast to remain a hurricane in the northwestern Caribbean.
The centre of Beryl is then forecast to approach the Yucatan Peninsula of Mexico on Thursday night.
Anyone in the Caribbean should closely monitor the developments of this storm and heed the advice and orders of local officials.
(Courtesy of Red Cross Canada)
One of the region’s earliest storms on record
Beryl wouldn’t be out of place as a powerful hurricane in the middle of hurricane season, but it’s unheard of to have such a powerful storm this early in the year.
It was the earliest we’ve ever seen a hurricane form in the tropical Atlantic Ocean.
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The only other storms that formed this far east this early in the year were Hurricane Elsa in 2021 and an unnamed storm that hit Trinidad and Tobago in 1933. It’s worth noting that both 2021 and 1933 eventually ranked among the most active hurricane seasons on record.
Beryl is also the earliest Category 4 and 5 hurricane ever recorded in the Atlantic Ocean, beating by a week the record set by Hurricane Dennis back in 2005. The historic 2005 season saw Hurricanes Dennis and Emily peak at Category 4 and 5, respectively. Dennis reached major hurricane status on July 7, and Emily did so a week later.
The last time there was a major hurricane before the July 4th holiday was Hurricane Alma on June 8, 1966. Alma was also the earliest hurricane to make landfall in the U.S. since 1825.
Experts largely agree that we’re in for a very active Atlantic hurricane season in the weeks and months to come. Sea surface temperatures throughout the Atlantic are running several degrees hotter than normal, closer to what you’d expect in September than the end of June.
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These abnormally hot waters will combine with the lower wind shear brought on by a developing La Niña in the eastern Pacific to foster extremely favourable conditions for tropical cyclone development through the peak of the season this fall.
The latest seasonal outlooks call for as many as two-dozen named storms, which is far more than the 14 tropical storms we’d see during a typical Atlantic hurricane season.
Thumbnail courtesy of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).
Stay with The Weather Network for all the latest throughout hurricane season.
