Beryl strengthened into a hurricane on Saturday. As it shakes The hurricane is moving into the southeastern Caribbean, and forecasters warn it is expected to strengthen into a dangerous major hurricane before reaching Barbados and the Windward Islands late Sunday or early Monday.
It is considered a major hurricane. Grade 3 or higherwith sustained winds of at least 111 miles per hour. Beryl is currently a Category 1 hurricane.
A hurricane warning has been issued for Barbados, a hurricane watch has been issued for Saint Lucia, Grenada, and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, and a tropical storm watch has been issued for Martinique, Dominica, and Tobago. A hurricane watch has been issued for Barbados, Saint Lucia, Grenada, and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, and a tropical storm watch has been issued for Martinique, Dominica, and Tobago. All areas except Barbados are part of the Windward Islands.
The hurricane center said “life-threatening winds and storm surge” were possible in the Windward Islands starting Sunday night.
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)
It has been more than 50 years since a hurricane occurred in the Atlantic Basin before the Fourth of July. According to the Weather Underground, Alma arrived in the Florida Keys on June 8, 1966.
“It’s amazing to see a major hurricane forecast for June, not to mention the far eastern parts of the tropics, but anywhere in the Atlantic. #Beryl is organizing itself over the warmest oceans on record for late June,” Florida-based hurricane expert Michael Lowry posted on social media.
Beryl is the second storm in what is expected to be a busy hurricane season that runs from June 1 to November 30 in the Atlantic Ocean. Tropical Storm Alberto last week Brought it Heavy flooding occurred in southern Texas and northeastern Mexico. At least four deaths occurred in Mexico’s Nuevo Leon and Veracruz states.
According to David Parkinson, weather producer for CBS News, Beryl is the easternmost hurricane to form in June and one of only two to form in the eastern Caribbean, the other being in 1933.
Parkinson expects Beryl to remain south of Jamaica and could take at least eight days to impact the United States.
Barbados Meteorological Service Director Sabou Best said the center of Beryl was expected to pass about 26 miles south of Barbados.
On Saturday night, Beryl was located about 660 miles southeast of Barbados and had maximum sustained winds of 80 mph. It was moving west at 22 mph.
“Rapid intensification is now expected,” the Miami-based National Hurricane Center said.
Tomer Burg, an atmospheric science researcher, noted that Beryl was just a tropical depression with winds of 35 miles per hour on Friday.
“This means that preliminary data suggests Beryl has already met the criteria for rapid strengthening before becoming a hurricane,” he wrote in X.
Warm water is fueling the beryl, with ocean heat content in the deep Atlantic Ocean reaching record highs for this time of year, according to University of Miami tropical meteorology researcher Brian McNoldy.
Beryl is also the strongest June tropical storm on record in the tropical Atlantic Far East, according to Klotzbach.
“We must be ready,” Barbados Prime Minister Mia Mottley said in a public address late Friday. “You and I know that when something like this happens, it’s better to prepare for the worst and pray for the best.”
She noted that thousands of people are in Barbados for the Twenty20 World Cup cricket final, which India beat South Africa in the capital Bridgetown on Saturday. This is considered cricket’s biggest event.
Some fans, including Shashank Musku, a 33-year-old doctor from Pittsburgh, rushed to change flights to leave before the storm.
Musku has never experienced a hurricane. “I don’t plan on getting caught in a hurricane either.”
He and his wife were cheering for India and learned about Beryl thanks to a taxi driver who mentioned the storm.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Ralph Gonçalves of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines urged people to prepare in a public address on Saturday, saying shelters would open on Sunday evening. He ordered officials to refuel government vehicles and asked grocery stores and gas stations to stay open later before the storm.
“If you stick to the time limit, it will be too rushed.” He spoke while apologizing in advance for the government’s interruption of radio stations with storm updates. “Cricket lovers have to put up with the fact that we have to provide information. This is life and death.”
Beryl is the second named storm in a busy hurricane season in the Atlantic that runs from June 1 to November 30. Earlier this month, Tropical Storm Alberto made landfall in northeastern Mexico, dumping heavy rain and killing four people.
Lowry noted that only five named storms have ever formed in the tropical Atlantic Ocean east of the Caribbean Sea, and only one of those has been a hurricane in June, east of the Caribbean Sea.
Mark Spence, a hostel manager in Barbados, said in a phone interview that he remains calm about the approaching storm.
“It’s the season. “A storm could hit at any time,” he said. “I am always prepared. “There is always enough food at home.”
Beryl is expected to dump up to 6 inches of rain on Barbados and nearby islands, and a high surf warning has been issued for waves of up to 13 feet. Storm surge of up to 7 feet is also expected.
A storm is approaching the southeastern Caribbean just days after the twin-island nation of Trinidad and Tobago reported widespread flooding in its capital Port of Spain due to an unrelated weather phenomenon.
Meanwhile, an unnamed storm in early June dumped more than 20 inches of rain on parts of South Florida, stranding scores of drivers on flooded streets and sending water into some low-lying homes.
According to the National Hurricane Center, it is unusual for Beryl to reach hurricane strength because the first hurricane of the season usually occurs in early to mid-August. in report NOAA, released last month, predicted an “above average” hurricane season with 17 to 25 storms, 8 to 13 hurricanes and 4 to 7 major hurricanes of Category 3 or higher.
Tropical storms are tropical depressions with maximum sustained winds of 39 to 73 mph, while hurricanes are is defined It is a tropical cyclone with maximum wind speeds of 74 mph or greater.
