Beryl becomes a hurricane in the Atlantic heading towards the Caribbean; could reach category 3

Storm Beryl strengthened into a hurricane on Saturday as it moved toward the southeastern Caribbean, and forecasters warned it was expected to become a dangerous major storm before reaching Barbados late Sunday or Monday. the dawn.

A hurricane is considered to be a Category 3 hurricane or higher, with winds of at least 178 kilometers per hour. On Saturday night, Beryl was a Category 1 hurricane.

It’s the first time a hurricane has formed this far east in the tropical Atlantic in June since records have been kept, breaking an old record set in 1933, according to Philip Klotzbach, a hurricane researcher at Colorado State University. .

Hurricane warnings have been issued for Barbados, Saint Lucia, Grenada and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, while tropical storm warnings have been issued for Martinique, Dominica and Tobago.

“It is surprising to see a major hurricane (Category 3 or higher) forecast in June anywhere in the Atlantic, let alone this far east deep in the tropics. “Beryl quickly organized into the warmest waters ever recorded by the end of June,” Michael Lowry, a Florida-based hurricane expert, wrote on the social network X.

Beryl is forecast to pass about 45 km (28 miles) south of Barbados, said Sabu Best, director of the island’s weather service. Forecasters then expect the storm to cross the Caribbean toward Jamaica and eventually Mexico.

As of 8:00 a.m. ET Sunday, Beryl was located about 420 miles (675 km) east-southeast of Barbados, and its maximum sustained winds had increased to 115 mph (185 km/h) as it moved west at 20 mph (33 km/h).

“Rapid strengthening is now forecast,” the U.S. National Hurricane Center in Miami said.

Tomer Burg, an atmospheric science researcher, noted that Beryl was only a tropical depression with winds of 56 km/h on Friday.

“This means that, based on preliminary data, Beryl already met the requirements for rapid intensification before even becoming a hurricane,” he wrote in X.

Warm waters fuel the new hurricane, and ocean heat content in the deep Atlantic is the highest on record for this time of year, according to Brian McNoldy, a tropical meteorology researcher at the University of Miami.

Beryl is also the strongest June tropical storm on record this far east in the tropical Atlantic, according to Klotzbach.

“We remain fully alert and need to take every precaution possible for ourselves, for our family and for our neighbors,” Barbados Prime Minister Mia Mottley said in a public address Saturday night.

He noted that the country is hosting thousands of people for the final of the Twenty20 Cricket World Cup, in which India defeated South Africa on Saturday in the capital Bridgetown. It is considered the biggest event in cricket.

Some fans, like Shashank Musku, a 33-year-old doctor who lives in Pittsburgh, were rushing to change their flights to get out of the country before the storm.

Mushu said by phone that he has never experienced a hurricane: “I don’t plan to be in one either.”

St. Vincent and the Grenadines Prime Minister Ralph Gonsalves said in a public address Saturday that shelters would open Sunday night and urged people to prepare. He ordered officials to refuel government vehicles and asked grocery stores and gas stations to stay open later in the day ahead of the storm.

Beryl is the second named storm in what is expected to be a very active hurricane season, which runs from June 1 to November 30 in the Atlantic. A few days ago, Tropical Storm Alberto made landfall in northeastern Mexico, generating intense rains that caused the death of four people.

Lowry noted that in records dating back to 1851, only five named storms had formed in June in the tropical Atlantic east of the Caribbean, and only one of them was a hurricane. He said that was the first hurricane of 1933, which was the most active hurricane season on record.

The U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration predicts the 2024 hurricane season will be well above average, with 17 to 25 named storms. Up to 13 hurricanes and four Category 3 or higher hurricanes are expected.

An average Atlantic hurricane season produces 14 named storms, seven of them hurricanes and three hurricanes of Category 3 or higher.

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