As Hurricane Beryl tears through the Caribbean, a look at its record-breaking path
Hurricane Beryl is a record breaker already and it still has days to do more potential damage. On Monday it strengthened over warm seas and fair winds as it sped through the Caribbean, becoming the earliest Category 4 or 5 hurricane on record.
As of Wednesday morning, Beryl has winds of 145 mph and is a Category 4 hurricane as it nears Jamaica bringing life-threatening storm surge.
Beryl broke the previous record for the strongest Category 5 hurricane by more than two weeks. That record was set by Hurricane Emily on July 17, 2005. Beryl rapidly intensified from a tropical storm to a major hurricane with huge increases in wind speed, gaining 95 mph in less than two days. How Beryl's path compares with Emily's:
The third earliest Atlantic major hurricane on record
While Beryl is the earliest Category 5 hurricane on record, it was almost the earliest major hurricane ever recorded in the Atlantic. Just two other major hurricanes, with wind speeds of 111 mph or greater, happened earlier in the season: Alma on June 8, 1966, and Audrey on June 27, 1957, said Phil Klotzbach, research scientist at Colorado State University.
Beryl became the earliest Category 4 or larger storm by more than a week, breaking the record set by Hurricane Dennis, a Category 4 storm on July 8, 2005.
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Beryl goes from tropical storm to a hurricane in 42 hours
The National Hurricane Center forecast on Saturday afternoon said favorable conditions would help Beryl rapidly intensify to a major hurricane – with wind speeds up to 115 mph. As Beryl reached Barbados and the fringe of islands that border the eastern Caribbean on Monday morning, the hurricane exceeded their expectations, by a lot.
By 11:30 a.m. Sunday, Beryl had become a Category 4 hurricane, with winds of 130 mph. That's a gain of 95 mph in just 42.5 hours.
Rapid intensification in a tropical storm or hurricane is defined as an increase of 35 mph in 24 hours or less.
Beryl experienced three periods with huge wind increases. Its wind speeds increased 40 mph in 24 hours between 5 p.m. Friday and Saturday, then increased another 55 mph by Sunday at 11:35 a.m. On Monday, Beryl saw another rapid intensification, its winds strengthening 45 mph in 21 hours, growing from 120 mph to 165 mph.
In a search of the hurricane center's extensive database, Sam Lillo, a meteorologist and software engineer for DTN Weather, could only find three other storms known to have strengthened from a tropical depression to Category 4 in less than 48 hours: Keith, on Sept. 30, 2000, Wilma in October 2005 and Delta in 2020.
Sea surface temperatures fuel Beryl's intensification
Daily average ocean temperatures spiked in May 2023 and, for the most part, have continued to set records in 2024, even remaining above records set in 2023. Warm water is a crucial factor in helping tropical storms and hurricanes to form and strengthen.
Reflecting the arrival of a La Niña in the Pacific Ocean, daily average ocean temperatures have begun dropping below the 2023 records, according to the Climate Reanalyzer from the Climate Change Institute at the University of Maine. However, in the main hurricane development region in the Atlantic, and the Caribbean, water temperatures remain above last year’s records, according to an analysis by Brian McNoldy, a senior research scientist at the University of Miami.
Daily global sea-surface temperatures by year since 1982:
The storm is projected to bring 4 to 8 inches of rain to Jamaica, which could cause "life-threatening flash flooding and mudslides," according to the National Hurricane Center. On the coast, storm surge could raise water levels by as much as 6 to 9 feet.
Forecasters say Beryl will remain a hurricane later this week when it's projected to pass over the Yucatan Peninsula, south of Cancun on Friday and emerge over the Gulf of Mexico.
Contributing: Doyle Rice, Thao Nguyen and Christopher Cann, USA TODAY