Beryl maps show path and landfall forecast of storm as it reaches Texas
After hitting Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula, Beryl churned across the Gulf of Mexico and made landfall over the middle Texas Gulf Coast as a Category 1 hurricane early Monday, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said. Beryl has now been downgraded to a tropical storm.
The storm blew past the Cayman Islands and Jamaica last week, initially making landfall over the island of Carriacou in Grenada while tearing through the Caribbean, strengthening at times to a Category 5 hurricane — the strongest rating.
What is Beryl's projected path?
The Miami-based hurricane center issued an update Monday morning saying Beryl, now a tropical storm, was bringing life-threatening storm surge, damaging wind gusts and flooding rainfall over eastern Texas.
As of 5 p.m. EDT, a tropical storm warning was in effect for the Texas coast from north of Port Bolivar northward to Sabine Pass. A storm surge warning was in effect for north of San Luis Pass to Sabine Pass, including Galveston Bay.
Beryl's eye "will move over eastern Texas today, then move through the Lower Mississippi Valley into the Ohio Valley on Tuesday and Wednesday," the hurricane center said. "Steady weakening is forecast, and Beryl is expected to become a post-tropical cyclone on Tuesday."
"Heavy rainfall of 5 to 10 inches with localized amounts of 15 inches is expected across portions of the middle and upper Texas Gulf Coast and eastern Texas today into tonight," the hurricane center said. "Considerable flash and urban flooding as well as minor to isolated major river flooding is expected."
On Friday, Beryl made landfall in Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula as a Category 2 hurricane, just northeast of the resort town of Tulum, before weakening to a tropical storm and moving back into the Gulf.
Beryl became the first hurricane of the 2024 Atlantic hurricane season at the end of June and rapidly strengthened. It was 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 AP that warm waters fueled Beryl, with ocean heat content in the deep Atlantic the highest on record for this time of year.
Beryl 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.
Brian Dakss, Alex Sundby and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
