Hurricane Beryl Striking Windward Islands Monday | Weather.com (2024)

Hurricane Beryl is striking the Windward Islands today, bringing destructive winds, storm surge and flooding rainfall. Thereafter, the hurricane faces an uncertain future in the Caribbean Sea.

Current status: Beryl is moving quickly westward as it approaches the Windward Islands this morning. After briefly weakening to a Category 3 overnight following an eyewall replacement cycle, the hurricane has once again returned to Category 4 strength as of 8 a.m. EDT.

I​ts wind field has also grown larger since yesterday, with hurricane-force winds now extending out up to 35 miles from Beryl's center.

B​eryl is the easternmost hurricane and "major hurricane" (Category 3+) to form in the tropical Atlantic during the month of June.

W​indward Islands danger: The latest forecast from the National Hurricane Center shown below expects Beryl to continue marching through the Windward Islands at Category 4 strength the rest of today. It will then emerge in the eastern Caribbean by tonight.

W​inds have gusted up to 69 mph on Barbados this morning.

B​eryl is likely to be the strongest hurricane strike on the southern Windward Islands since Hurricane Ivan in 2004.

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W​atches, warnings and impacts: Hurricane warnings continue for Barbados, St. Vincent and the Grenadine Islands, Grenada and Tobago.

A​ narrow corridor of devastating wind damage is possible where Beryl's tiny eyewall moves over one or multiple of these islands as it enters the Caribbean on Monday.

L​ife-threatening storm surge and rainfall flooding is also expected in these areas through Monday.

B​eryl's uncertain Caribbean future: Beryl will move into the eastern Caribbean Sea later Monday.

B​eryl could eventually pose a danger to Jamaica and the Cayman Islands by Wednesday and Thursday, and then Belize and Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula on Friday. However, there's uncertainty in that exact track, as shown in the model forecast track map below.

O​ne other uncertainty is how much wind shear Beryl will face in the Caribbean Sea. Typically this time of year, Caribbean wind shear is strong enough to weaken or completely fizzle tropical systems approaching from the east. However, model forecasts have hinted that wind shear could be lower than usual, which could allow Beryl to maintain its hurricane intensity longer in the western Caribbean Sea later this week.

T​he bottom line: It's too soon to determine exactly what kind of shape Beryl will be in when it gets to the western half of the Caribbean Sea later this week. All interests around the Caribbean Sea, including from Jamaica and the Cayman Islands to the Yucatan Peninsula, should monitor the forecast of Beryl closely over the next several days.

High pressure over the Southeast might help protect the western U.S. Gulf Coast from Beryl by next weekend, but it's too early to be 100% confident in that part of the forecast. Check back with us at weather.com for forecast updates in the coming days.

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That's not all we're watching: There is another tropical disturbance in the Atlantic Basin, as depicted in the map below.

The system is in the far eastern Atlantic Ocean and has been dubbed Invest 96L by the NHC. It has a medium chance of development this week, and will remain over the open ocean until nearing the Windward Islands around the middle of this week, just a couple of days after Beryl's devastating strike.

Chris made landfall in eastern Mexico early this morning as a tropical storm. Flooding rainfall is the main impact from this short-lived system which will dissipate later today.

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