As expected, Hurricane Beryl strengthened into a Category 4 hurricane Sunday but it happened several hours earlier than expected. Now, Beryl barrels toward the Caribbean.
Here’s the latest from the National Hurricane Center’s Sunday’s 5 p.m. advisory.
Beryl’s wind speed: Beryl’s packing 130 mph sustained winds, an increase of 50 mph from Saturday’s 8 p.m. advisory and 10 mph from Sunday’s 11 a.m. advisory. Higher gusts are present. Hurricane force winds blow up to 30 miles from Beryl’s center, with tropical storm force winds extending 115 miles.
“Fluctuations in strength are likely during the next day or so, and Beryl is expected to remain an extremely dangerous Category 4 hurricane through landfall in the Windward Islands,” the hurricane center said.
Where Beryl is and where Beryl is going: The storm is about 250 miles southeast of Barbados and 350 miles east-southeast of St. Vincent. It’s moving west at 18 mph, still swift for a storm, but a slight slowing after days of moving at 20 to 21 mph.
“A continued quick westward to west-northwestward motion is expected during the next few days,” the hurricane center said. “On the forecast track, the center of Beryl is expected to move across the Windward Islands Monday morning and across the southeastern and central Caribbean Sea late Monday through Wednesday.”
Alerts: Tobago, Barbados, St. Lucia, Grenada, St. Vincent and the Grenadine Islands under a hurricane warning. Martinique is under a tropical storm warning. Trinidad, Dominca, and parts of Haiti and the Dominican Republic are under a tropical storm watch.
In the DR, that’s the south coast from Punta Palenque to the Haiti border. In Haiti, it’s from that border on the south coast to Anse d’Hainault.
The rest of the Lesser Antilles, Jamaica, the Cayman Islands and the remainder of the northwestern Caribbean “should closely monitor the progress of Beryl. Additional watches and warnings will likely be required for portions of this area later Sunday or Monday.”
Hazards: A “life-threatening storm surge” of 6 to 9 feet could hit the hurricane warning areas. Barbados and the Windward Islands could deal with 3 to 6 inches of rain today and Monday with accompanying flooding. The Grenadines might get 10 inches of rain with accompanying flooding.
“Large swells generated by Beryl are expected across the Windward and southern Leeward Islands during the next couple of days,” the hurricane center said. “Swells are also expected to reach the southern coasts of Puerto Rico and (Haiti and the Dominican Republic) in the next day or so. These swells are expected to cause life-threatening surf and rip current conditions.”
Next Advisory: There will be an intermediate advisory at 8 p.m. and a full advisory at 11 p.m.
Caribbean preparations
At 8:30 p.m. Sunday, Barbados and Saint Lucia will go into nationwide shutdowns. Grenada will declared a state of emergency that will start at 7 p.m.
The Caribbean Community regional economic group CARICOM canceled a gathering in Grenada of leaders from its 15 members scheduled for Wednesday through Friday.
READ MORE: The Caribbean begins to shut down as Hurricane Beryl approaches
St. Lucia Prime Minister Keith Mitchell advised his citizens to prepare and pray. All stable patients at the Owen King European Union Hospital will be discharged Sunday.
More on Beryl
Where Hurricane Beryl formed Saturday is the farthest east for a June hurricane in historical record. Only one other hurricane has formed anywhere nearby in June, and that was in 1933.
By Tuesday, the hurricane center noted that conditions could shift, and a strong subtropical ridge that is expected to keep the storm at lower latitudes could lighten, allowing Beryl to inch up into higher latitudes. Additional wind shear could help batter it back down a category or two.
Right behind Beryl, forecasters also are watching another system, a tropical wave hundreds of miles southwest of the Cabo Verde Islands and 1,710 miles southeast of Barbados.
“Environmental conditions appear conducive for additional development of this system, and a tropical depression is likely to form by the middle part of this week while it moves generally westward at 15 to 20 mph across the eastern and central tropical Atlantic,” the 2 p.m. Sunday advisory said.
As of the 2 p.m. update, forecasters gave it a 40% chance of strengthening into a depression over the next two days and a 70% chance in the next seven days.
Herald Staff Writer Jacqueline Charles contributed information to this story.
