Hurricane Beryl on Crash Course with the Caribbean

Hurricane Beryl exploded overnight Saturday and into Sunday, becoming a major Category 4 storm as it races toward the Lesser Antilles to start the new week. Here is the latest on the first hurricane of the season, forecast to move through the Caribbean in the coming days.

Latest on Hurricane Beryl

As of the Sunday evening update from the National Hurricane Center (NHC) Hurricane Beryl was churning about 250 miles east-southeast of the islands of Barbados and moving to the west. The latest models predict that storm surge will send water levels up as high as 9 feet over typical tide measurements as the tropical weather maker moves closer to populated areas.

Beryl has gone through the process of rapid intensification over the last few days, raising concern in this corner of the Atlantic. Hurricane warnings are in effect for the islands of Barbados, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent, and the Grenadine Islands. These islands began to experience the impacts associated with Beryl late Sunday.

The storm has come together quickly, going from a tropical depression on Friday to a Category 1 hurricane on Saturday afternoon. Forecasters with the NHC are warning that a large portion of the Caribbean is going to see strong winds and dangerous storm surge as the storm roars through the region early in the week.

The current forecast models indicate that Beryl will move to the west-northwest, carried by an area of high pressure. The unseasonably warm ocean water temperatures in this part of the basin will work to support its ability to grow and intensify.

The large land masses in the Caribbean may pair with some areas of periodic wind shear to slightly weaken the storm on Monday. However, these impacts are likely to be minimal.

History and Future of Beryl