Hurricane Beryl maps show path and landfall forecast
Hurricane Beryl was forecast to reach Jamaica Wednesday after making landfall two days earlier as a powerful Category 4 storm on the island of Carriacou in Grenada while tearing through the Caribbean, strengthening at one point to a Category 5 storm — the strongest rating.
What is the projected path of Hurricane Beryl?
Beryl's center was moving quickly across the Caribbean Sea on Tuesday. Despite weakening over the next day or two, it is still forecast to pass over or near Jamaica on Wednesday at or near major hurricane strength, the U.S. National Hurricane Center in Miami said.
It is forecast to remain at or near major hurricane strength when it passes over or near the Cayman Islands on Wednesday night or early Thursday morning.
"Additional weakening is expected thereafter, though Beryl is forecast to remain a hurricane in the northwestern Caribbean," the hurricane center said
It is expected to remain a hurricane when it approaches Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula Thursday night.
A major hurricane is considered a Category 3 or higher, with winds of at least 111 mph. As of late Tuesday night, Beryl was a Category 4 hurricane with maximum sustained winds of 150 mph, the hurricane center said.
Beryl was about about 300 miles southeast of Kingston, Jamaica. It was moving west-northwest at 22 mph, according to the hurricane center.
Beryl became the first hurricane of the 2024 Atlantic hurricane season on Saturday and rapidly strengthened. It first reached Category 4 on Sunday, wavering back to Category 3 before returning to Category 4 on Monday and then becoming a Category 5 later Monday night. It is the first major hurricane east of the Lesser Antilles on record for June, according to Philip Klotzbach, Colorado State University hurricane researcher.
Brian McNoldy, a tropical meteorology researcher for the University of Miami, told The Associated Press warm waters are fueling Beryl, with ocean heat content in the deep Atlantic the highest on record for this time of year.
Beryl has also set records as the first June hurricane ever to hit Category 4, the farthest east a storm has ever hit Category 4, and the first storm before September to go from tropical depression to major hurricane in under 48 hours, CBS News weather producer David Parkinson reported.
Beryl was also the earliest Category 5 hurricane ever recorded in the Atlantic basin and was only the second Category 5 storm recorded in July since 2005, according to the hurricane center.
A hurricane warning was in effect for Jamaica and the Cayman Islands, and a hurricane watch was posted for the southern coast of Haiti from the border with the Dominican Republic to Anse d'Hainault, along with the east coast of Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula, from Cabo Catoche south to Chetumal, which sits on the border with Belize. A tropical storm warning was in place for the southern coast of the Dominican Republic from Punta Palenque westward to the border with Haiti, and the southern coast of Haiti from the border with the Dominican Republic to Anse d'Hainault.
A tropical storm watch was also in place for the east coast of Belize, from Chetumal south to Belize City.
Where will Hurricane Beryl bring rain and flooding?
The hurricane center said Jamaica, the Dominican Republic and Haiti were likely to see heavy rains and life-threatening flash flooding.
"Hurricane Beryl is expected to produce rainfall totals of 4 to 8 inches, with localized maxima of 12 inches, across Jamaica and the southwestern Haitian Peninsula through late Wednesday," the hurricane center said. "Beryl will also produce rainfall amounts of 4 to 8 inches with isolated amounts of 10 inches across the Barahona Peninsula in southwest Dominican Republic. Isolated totals of 6 inches or more are also anticipated across the mountainous terrain in the central Dominican Republic. This rainfall is likely to cause flash flooding and mudslides."
— David Parkinson and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
