Hurricane Beryl strengthens as it continues track to the west

With the 4 a.m. Sunday update, the hurricane became a Cat. 2 storm with maximum sustained winds at 100 miles per hour.

HOUSTON — Beryl strengthened into the season's first hurricane on Saturday afternoon. By Sunday morning, it was a Category 2 storm.

With the 4 a.m. Sunday update, Beryl had maximum sustained winds of 100 miles per hour and was moving to the west at 21 miles per hour.  (Update in Spanish from NHC)

The storm is expected to become a major hurricane before it reaches the Windward Islands early Monday, according to the National Hurricane Center.

Here are the Key Messages for early Sunday on the last day of June for rapidly intensifying Hurricane #Beryl. Keep up with the latest changes at https://t.co/tW4KeGe9uJ pic.twitter.com/g6EZgzKWFQ

— National Hurricane Center (@NHC_Atlantic) June 30, 2024

Watches and warnings in effect

Hurricane Warnings are in effect for much of the Windward Islands.

Beryl path

Beryl spaghetti models

Potential threats

Beryl is expected to be a major hurricane when it reaches the Windward Islands early Monday. It’s expected to bring destructive hurricane-force winds and life-threatening storm surge. Heavy rainfall and localized flooding along the Windward Islands is expected late Sunday and Monday.

Track the storm

Hurricane Season links

Hurricane season 2024 forecast

Colorado State University released its forecast update for the 2024 hurricane season, maintaining that it will be a busy one. In April, they predicted that we could see 23 named storms and 11 hurricanes with five becoming major hurricanes. They blame the extremely warm tropical Atlantic and likely “La Niña” as the primary reasons.

On average, the Atlantic sees about 14 named storms each hurricane season. Of those, seven become hurricanes with three becoming major (Category 3 or above) storms.

Why such an active season? Dr. Phil Klotzbach, lead forecaster at CSU, says it's because of two main factors -- above-normal sea surface temperatures and expected La Niña conditions this summer. The warm water adds more energy to the tropics, making fuel for these storms more available. But perhaps more importantly, La Niña usually reduces vertical wind shear.

Winds blowing across a developing or mature tropical system can keep a budding system from developing and weaken stronger storms. This reduces the total storm count. But when La Niña conditions are in place, this wind shear is often reduced. That, combined with the warm ocean surface temps is why Dr. Klotzbach believes more storms than normal will form.

Watch: Dr. Phil Klotzbach talks to KHOU 11 Chief Meteorologist David Paul about the 2024 hurricane season

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