Hurricane Beryl becomes a ‘very dangerous’ Category 4 storm — the need to know

Hurricane Beryl, the first of the 2024 Atlantic season, has intensified into a “very dangerous” Category 4 storm moving toward Barbados and the Windward Islands, the National Hurricane Center shared.

The National Hurricane Center is warning that Beryl is expected to be an “extremely dangerous” Category 4 hurricane by the time it reaches the Windward Islands late on Sunday or early Monday.

However, the storm is making headlines not just for the danger it poses but also for its historic timing.

According to the center, Beryl is one of the earliest major storms ever tracked, as the first hurricane usually doesn’t arrive until around mid-August. NOAA reports that it’s the earliest Category 3 or higher storm in the Atlantic in 58 years.

As of 11 a.m. EST, Beryl had reached maximum sustained wind speeds of 120 mph and was within 370 miles of Barbados heading west, an advisory about the storm said.

“Devastating wind damage is expected where the eyewall of Beryl moves through portions of the Windward Islands,” the NHC said. Additionally, a “life-threatening storm surge will raise water levels by as much as 6 to 9 feet above normal tide levels in areas of onshore flow near where Beryl makes landfall in the hurricane warning area.”

Mike Brennan, Director of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s National Hurricane Center, shared with CNN that the storm will continue to wreak havoc throughout next week after it makes landfall in Barbados within the next 24 hours.

“We’re forecasting rapid intensification and expecting Beryl to become a major hurricane before it reaches places like Barbados and the Windward islands and continue to be a powerful hurricane as it moves into the eastern and central Caribbean as we go into the early portions of next week,” Brennan said.

The storm is currently going through rapid intensification, defined by the NHC as an increase in maximum sustained wind speed of 35 mph or more within 24 hours.

Rainfall totals of 3 to 6 inches could bring localized flooding across the Windward islands Sunday night and Monday, the center shared.

The storm, forecast to be a Category 4 hurricane, will be the strongest hurricane in the location since Ivan in 2004, the center shared.

The National Weather Service is predicting that there will be 17 to 25 named storms this season, with eight to 13 becoming hurricanes and four to seven major hurricanes.