Beryl now a Category 4 hurricane; first ever to form in June

Less than 48 hours after developing into a tropical storm, Beryl is now a Category 4 hurricane, making history as the first Category 4 hurricane to form in the month of June.

As of the National Hurricane Center's 9:35 a.m. CDT updated advisory, Beryl has sustained winds of 130 miles per hours. Beryl, forecasters say, will bring "destructive hurricane-force winds and life-threatening storm surge" to those islands.

Hurricane warnings are in effect for Barbados, St. Lucia, St. Vincent and the Grenadine Islands, Grenada, and Tobago. Martinique is under a tropical storm warning, while Dominica is under a tropical storm watch.

"Beryl's structure is quickly evolving this morning as it undergoes rapid intensification," NHC meteorologists wrote in their forecast discussion Sunday morning. "Recent GOES 1-minute satellite imagery shows the development of an eye, with cooling cloud tops in the eyewall and a warming eye."

Although forecasters expect Beryl to undergo rapid intensification over the next 24 hours, they say the storm will encounter elements that will significantly weaken it as it advances towards the Gulf of Mexico.

"Once Beryl enters the Caribbean, increasing shear will likely cause the hurricane to level off in intensity, then weaken through about midweek," the forecast discussion says. "The intensity forecast is similar to the previous one, but the NHC forecast is raised at day 5 as more models are showing lessening shear in the western Caribbean."

The forecast track continues to put Beryl on a westward course towards the Yucatan Peninsula, with landfall expected there on Friday. However, NHC meteorologists continue to caution that forecast beyond three or four days remain uncertain.