Tropical Storm Beryl formed Friday evening in the Atlantic east of the Windward Islands and could become Hurricane Beryl by Saturday night or Sunday morning as it moves westward, the National Hurricane Center said.
It becomes the second named storm of the 2024 Atlantic hurricane season, formally turning into a tropical storm on Friday about 1,100 miles southeast of the Windward Islands at the eastern end of the Caribbean.
Beryl was moving about 21 mph, with maximum sustained winds of 60 mph, according to the hurricane center’s 8 a.m. advisory Saturday. The center predicts Beryl will become a hurricane by late Saturday or early Sunday and rapidly strengthen further, with its winds reaching major hurricane strength with winds of 111 mph or more before its center reaches the Windward Islands on Monday morning.
Conditions in the atmosphere and ocean where Beryl is moving are “abnormally favorable for strengthening,” the hurricane center has said.
Conditions appear to be less conducive after the storm enters the Caribbean, with more wind shear that may end the strengthening and cause slow weakening, the center said this morning.
The storm is 890 miles east-southeast of Barbados, according to the advisory. Tropical storm force winds are expected to extend 45 miles outward from the center.
The storm is expected bring a risk of heavy rain, hurricane-force winds and dangerous storm surges and waves as it crosses over the Windward Islands Sunday night and into Monday. A hurricane watch was issued for Barbados and others “will likely be required” later Saturday as the system moves further into the Lesser Antilles, which includes the Windward Islands, Leeward Islands and Leeward Antilles.
Barbados and nearby islands could receive 3 to 6 inches of rain, with localized flooding in vulnerable areas, along with life-threatening surf and rip currents.
What’s the forecast for Beryl?
People in the central and western Caribbean should monitor the storm’s progress, keeping in mind that the margin of error for the forecast at four or five days out can be quite large, the center advised.
By Sunday evening, when Beryl moves into the Caribbean Sea, the official forecast states its winds could be up to 105 mph. Atmospheric conditions are typically not favorable for strengthening storms at this point in June, however, some computer models are “quite aggressive,” and suggest the storm could be a major hurricane before it reaches the Windwards, according to the center’s forecast discussion.
Once the storm crosses into the Caribbean, the forecast models aren’t yet in agreement on the storm’s potential path, the center said. For now, the official forecast cone shows the center of the hurricane could be near or over the western half of the Dominican Republic and Haiti on Tuesday evening and over Jamaica or eastern Cuba on Wednesday evening.
It is still too early to determine if this cyclone will impact the Yucatan Peninsula, but according to the protections, there is a strong possibility of landfall.
TYT Newsroom
