Hurricane Beryl maps show path and landfall forecast
Hurricane Beryl made landfall Monday as an "extremely dangerous" Category 4 on the island of Carriacou in Grenada before strengthening to a Category 5 storm — the strongest rating — as it swirled through the Caribbean, bringing fierce winds and torrential rains early Monday as it started a forecast path to Jamaica.
As of 8 a.m. EDT Tuesday, Beryl was about 300 miles southeast of Isla Beata in the Dominican Republic and 625 miles east-southeast of Kingston, Jamaica. It was hurrying west-northwest at 22 mph, according to the U.S. National Hurricane Center in Miami.
"Weakening should begin later today, but Beryl is still expected to be near major hurricane intensity as it moves into the central Caribbean and passes near Jamaica on Wednesday and the Cayman Islands on Thursday. Additional weakening is expected thereafter, though Beryl is forecast to remain a hurricane in the northwestern Caribbean," the center said.
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 is also the earliest Category 5 hurricane ever recorded in the Atlantic basin and is only the second Category 5 storm recorded in July since 2005, according to the National Hurricane Center.
Where is Hurricane Beryl headed?
Beryl's center is expected to move quickly across the southeastern and central Caribbean Sea Tuesday and is forecast to pass near Jamaica on Wednesday and the Cayman Islands on Thursday, the center said.
Jamaica remained under a hurricane warning early Tuesday and a hurricane watch was posted for the Cayman Islands, while tropical storm warnings remained in effect for the south coast of the Dominican Republic, from Punta Palenque westward and the south coast of Haiti from the Dominican border to Anse d'Hainault. Earlier storm warnings for Barbados, Tobago, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Trinidad and Tobago and Martinique were lifted.
Where will Hurricane Beryl bring rain and flooding?
"Hurricane Beryl is expected to produce rainfall totals of 4 to 8 inches, with localized maxima of 12 inches, across Jamaica on Wednesday, the hurricane center said. "This rainfall is likely to cause flash flooding. Rainfall from outer bands of Beryl should impact mainly southern portions of Hispaniola today into Wednesday, with 2 to 6 inches of rain possible."
— David Parkinson and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
