Hurricane Beryl threatens the Caribbean as a category 4 storm

Hurricane Beryl was moving west across the Atlantic as a Category 4 storm Monday morning, as islanders across the Caribbean braced for life- and water-threatening winds. storm surge late in the day.

Here are important things to know about the storm.

• Barbados has largely been spared the worst of Beryl’s impacts, officials there said Monday morning. The storm is expected to pass over the Windward Islands late Monday before moving across the Caribbean Sea by midweek.

• The bumps created by Beryl have the potential to cause life-threatening runoff and tearing.

• 3 to 6 inches of rain, hurricane-force winds and dangerous storm surge are possible in the Eastern Caribbean Islands, including St. Vincent and the Grenadines, until Monday.

• The storm could move into the Gulf of Mexico by the end of next week, but it is “too early” to discuss what will happen if and when it does, forecasters said Monday morning.

When Beryl developed into a Category 4 storm on Sunday, it was the earliest storm of the season to reach that strength. The earliest Category 4 storm on record was Storm Dennis on July 8, 2005.

Beryl, the first hurricane of the 2024 season, weakened slightly Monday morning but strengthened to a Category 4 storm, with maximum sustained winds near 130 mph, according to the National Hurricane Center. said in an advisory that strong winds and life-threatening storms are expected within hours in the Windward Islands, southeast of Puerto Rico and northern Venezuela.

A hurricane warning is in effect for Barbados, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Grenada and the islands of Tobago. Martinique, Trinidad and St. Lucia is under a tropical storm warning, while parts of Haiti and the Dominican Republic are under a tropical storm watch.

Officials in Barbados said Monday morning that the island had largely avoided the storm as it passed near the southern tip of the country.

Atlantic hurricanes now have the potential to double from a weak hurricane to a Category 3 or higher storm in just 24 hours. according to a study published last year.

Beryl’s destructive winds will occur as the eyewall, the area surrounding the eye of the storm, sweeps across the islands. On the islands’ higher elevations, winds could be even stronger.

Beryl is the third earliest major hurricane ever to form in the Atlantic, according to Philip Klotzbach, a seasonal hurricane forecaster at Colorado State University. The only other hurricanes to form earlier in a calendar year were Alma on June 8, 1966, and Audrey on June 27, 1957. Both storms made landfall on the U.S. coast in the Gulf of Mexico: Alma near St. Marks, Fla., and Audrey near Port Arthur, Texas.

Beryl became a tropical storm late Friday when its sustained winds reached 39 miles per hour. At a speed of 74 mph, a storm will become a hurricane.

Countries prepare for Beryl.

While officials across the Caribbean are preparing for the approaching storm, Barbados appears to have been spared the worst of Beryl’s impacts.

By 5am, sustained winds of over 45mph were recorded at Grantley Adams International Airport in the southern parish of Christ Church, which has been hit hard by Storm Beryl. Gusts of up to 60mph, along with heavy rain, were reported across the southern half of the island.

Minister of Internal Affairs and Information Wilfred Abrahams said in a daytime broadcast from the emergency operations center that there were no reports of injuries last night.

“We dodged a bullet,” he said. “Or we’re in the process of dodging bullets but there’s still more weather to come.”

Prime Minister Dickon Mitchell of Grenada said the country will declare a state of emergency starting at 7 p.m. Sunday.

Except for police and essential workers, “everyone must stay home or shelter in place,” he said.

Ralph Gonsalves, prime minister of St. Vincent and the Grenadines on Sunday urged residents to take the storm seriously, saying many buildings could lose their roofs.

At St. Lucia, Prime Minister Philip J. Pierre announced a nationwide shutdown at 8:30 p.m. Sunday, and schools and businesses remained closed Monday.

After passing east of the Caribbean Islands on Monday, Beryl is expected to continue moving westward across the central Caribbean, passing just south of Jamaica by midweek and hitting the Yucatan Peninsula by the weekend. There are some signs that the storm could weaken in the central Caribbean.

This year’s hurricane season is expected to be very busy.

Forecasters have warned that the 2024 Atlantic hurricane season could be much more active than usual.

In late May, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration 17 to 25 named storms are expected this year, an “above normal” number and a prediction consistent with more than a dozen forecasts earlier this year from experts at universities, private companies and government agencies. The average hurricane season produces 14 named storms.

Johnny Diaz, John Yoon, John Keefe, Mike IvesKenton X. Chance, Julius Gittens, Sharefil Gaillard, Linda Straker and yen Trang Report contributions.