Hurricane Beryl now Category 2 with 110 mph winds

As of the latest advisory Thursday night, Hurricane Beryl is a Category 3 hurricane as it passes southwest of the Cayman Islands. It will potentially make another landfall on Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula.

Beryl was the earliest Category 5 hurricane to form in the Atlantic Basin, and it was the earliest Category 4 to make landfall on record after passing through the southern Windward Islands on Monday, July 1.

Beryl is currently a Category 3 hurricane with max winds of 115 mph and it’s moving west-northwest through the Caribbean Sea. 

It is moving closely by the Cayman Islands, bringing hurricane-force winds and damaging waves through early Thursday. Strong winds, dangerous storm surge, damaging waves and areas of flooding are expected in the Cayman Islands, where a Hurricane Warning remains in effect.

Beryl should remain a hurricane as it approaches the Yucatan Peninsula and Belize late on Thursday. It will eventually enter the Bay of Campeche and the southwestern Gulf of Mexico this weekend.

These are the following tropical alerts in place:

Hurricane Warning:

• Little Cayman and Cayman Brac
• The coast of the Yucatan Peninsula of Mexico from Puerto Costa Maya to Cancun

Hurricane Watch:

• The coast of the Yucatan Peninsula of Mexico south of Puerto Costa Maya to Chetumal
• The coast of the Yucatan Peninsula of Mexico north of Cancun to Cabo Catoche

Tropical Storm Warning:

• The coast of the Yucatan Peninsula of Mexico south of Puerto Costa Maya to Chetumal
• The coast of the Yucatan Peninsula of Mexico north of Cancun to Cabo Catoche

Tropical Storm Watch:

• Coast of Belize from south of Chetumal to Belize City
• The coast of the Yucatan Peninsula of Mexico west of Cabo Catoche to Campeche

Beryl will continue its path west-northwest as it moves through higher wind shear, which should lead to gradual weakening, although it will remain a dangerous storm in the Caribbean Sea.

Most models have Beryl moving back of the Bay of Campeche and the southwestern Gulf of Mexico as a tropical storm this weekend.

It’s too early to tell if Beryl will have any direct impact on the U.S., but it’s important to follow the latest updates, especially in the western Gulf of Mexico.

Beryl so far

Beryl formed on Friday, June 28, becoming the second named storm of the 2024 Atlantic hurricane season. It became a hurricane on Saturday, June 29, and on Sunday, June 30, it became the earliest Atlantic Category 4 storm on record.

It was the earliest major hurricane (Category 3+) to form in the Atlantic basin since 1966, and the third earliest major hurricane to form on record.

It made landfall on Carriacou Island in Grenada on Monday, July 1, as a strong Category 4 with max winds of 150 mph. It was the earliest Category 4 storm to make landfall in the Atlantic basin on record.

Late on Monday, July 1, Beryl moved back over the southeastern Caribbean Sea and continued to strengthen into a Category 5 hurricane. It became the earliest Category 5 hurricane on record, breaking the prior record held by Hurricane Emily in 2005 by two weeks.

With max winds of 165 mph, it also made Beryl the strongest July Atlantic hurricane on record.

We’ll continue to monitor the latest tropical development. You can see other areas with development potential here.

Check to see how the 2024 Atlantic hurricane season is going so far.

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