Hurricane Beryl Heads Toward Jamaica Wednesday | Weather.com

Hurricane Beryl is setting its sights on the western Caribbean Sea, including Jamaica, the Cayman Islands and the Yucatan Peninsula before facing an uncertain future in the Gulf of Mexico that could include impacts in Texas, even Louisiana.

Current status: Beryl continues to move quickly west-northwest in the eastern Caribbean Sea at Category 4 intensity well south of both Puerto Rico and Hispaniola. That said, some outer bands of heavy rain have wrapped into those areas.

Beryl became the earliest hurricane to reach Category 5 strength on record in the Atlantic, over two weeks earlier than the previous record – Emily – from July 16, 2005. Check out our full recap of all the early-season records Beryl has smashed.

Here’s where warnings and watches are in effect: A​ hurricane warning has been issued for Jamaica and the Cayman Islands and a hurricane watch is now in effect for both southern Hispaniola. Additional alerts could be issued later Tuesday or Wednesday.

A​reas under hurricane warnings should rush preparations to completion. Areas under hurricane watches should make sure their hurricane plans are ready to go.

Here’s what to expect next from Beryl across the Caribbean: Beryl will take a west-northwest track in the Caribbean Sea through the rest of this week. Although the hurricane will eventually lose intensity because of increasingly hostile wind shear, it will still pose a considerable danger. Here’s the general timeline:

• T​hrough Early Wednesday: B​eryl’s outer impacts, including bands of flooding rain, some storm surge flooding and occasional strong winds could brush southern Hispaniola.

• Wednesday: Beryl is expected to strike Jamaica with destructive winds, life-threatening storm surge flooding near the coast and torrential rainfall triggering flash flooding and landslides before moving away late Wednesday night. This could be the strongest hurricane to strike Jamaica in almost 17 years, since Hurricane Dean in 2007.
• T​hursday: Beryl is forecast to make its closest approach as a hurricane to the Cayman Islands, particularly Grand Cayman, with storm surge flooding, high winds and heavy rain.
• F​riday: Beryl is expected to make a landfall as a hurricane in Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula, anywhere from the Belize border and Costa Maya to Cancún. Storm surge flooding, potentially damaging winds and flooding rain are all possible.

(​MORE: What The Forecast Cone Means, And Doesn’t)

U.S. concern: Beryl is likely to emerge in the southwest Gulf of Mexico this weekend after being steered by a heat dome of high pressure over the Southeast U.S.

T​here is considerable uncertainty in Beryl’s future after that.

T​hat Southeast U.S. upper-level heat dome is expected to both weaken and retreat off the Southeast coast, leaving a gap between that and a Western U.S. heat dome.

Because of that, a​n increasing number of computer forecast models are suggesting Beryl could eventually curl toward the northwest or north in the western Gulf of Mexico. That opens the door to a track anywhere from eastern Mexico’s Gulf Coast to Texas or even Louisiana early next week.

Beryl should have lost strength by the time it reaches the southwest Gulf because of wind shear and land interaction, however it could still bring significant impacts to the Gulf Coast as either a tropical storm or hurricane.

R​esidents along the Gulf Coast from eastern Mexico to Texas and Louisiana should, for now, monitor the forecasts in the coming days.

K​eep this in mind if you have holiday weekend beach plans along these stretches of the coastline.

J​ust a couple of weeks ago, Tropical Storm Alberto triggered significant coastal flooding along the Texas coast.

Recap Of Beryl’s Historic Windward Islands Landfall

Beryl made landfall just after 11 a.m. EDT Monday over the Grenadan island of Carriacou with maximum sustained winds of 150 mph. Among only two other Category 4 hurricanes in history near Grenada and St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Beryl was the strongest by wind speed.

(​MORE: All The Ways Beryl Has Already Made History)

Storm reports: S​torm chasers Brandon Clement and Jonathan Petramala reported the roof ripped off of a building they were reporting from on Carriacou Island late Monday morning as the eyewall moved in. The National Hurricane Center’s 11 a.m. EDT Monday advisory cited “multiple reports of downed trees, flooded streets, power outages and storm surge flooding in the Grenadines, Grenada, Barbados and Tobago.”

After briefly weakening to a Category 3 overnight following an eyewall replacement cycle, the hurricane once again returned to Category 4 strength Monday morning.

I​ts wind field grew larger since Sunday, with hurricane-force winds now extending out up to 40 miles from Beryl’s center.

While its eyewall passed south of Barbados, a 69 mph gust was clocked early Monday at Grantley Adams International Airport, the island’s major airport. Grenada clocked a wind gust up to 121 mph as the center of Beryl tracked just north of the island. A gust to 64 mph was reported on St. Lucia, as well.

B​eryl has strengthened since that strike on Carriacou Island.

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