Hurricane Beryl Could Make Devastating Cat 4 Strike In Windward Islands

Sign up for the Morning Brief email newsletter to get weekday updates from The Weather Channel and our meteorologists.

Hurricane Beryl is a category 4 major hurricane and a potentially devastating threat to the Windward Islands, but then faces an uncertain future in the Caribbean Sea as we also track two other systems in a busy pattern for this early in the season.

Current status: Beryl is centered about 250 miles east of the Windward Islands. It is moving quickly westward over the open waters of the central Atlantic Ocean. Beryl rapidly intensified into a Category 4 hurricane Sunday after first becoming a tropical depression on Friday, tropical storm early Saturday morning and first hurricane of the season Saturday afternoon.

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 strike the Windward Islands early Monday.

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

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

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

P​reparations should be rushed to completion in the hurricane-warned areas.

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 early 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.

We then expect it to take a general west-northwest track in the Caribbean Sea through the Fourth of July week.

B​eryl could eventually pose a danger to Jamaica, the Cayman Islands, Belize and Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula later this week. 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 should monitor the forecast of Beryl closely over the next several days.

It's also too soon to tell if Beryl will eventually threaten any part of the U.S. Gulf Coast. Again, check back with us at weather.com for forecast updates in the coming days.

(​EARLY LOOK: How A Heat Dome May Help The US)

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 high 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.

In the Gulf of Mexico, Tropical Storm Chris is spinning in the Bay of Campeche and is expected to dissipate over eastern Mexico Monday.

(​MORE: What Is An Invest?)

Heavy rain threat: Chris could dump locally heavy rainfall over southern and eastern Mexico. Local flash flooding and landslides are possible, especially in areas of higher terrain.

Some increased swells, rip currents and coastal flooding are also possible along parts of the Mexican and Texas Gulf Coast into at least early Monday.

(Further beef up your forecast with our detailed, hour-by-hour breakdown for the next 8 days – only available on our Premium Pro experience.)

C​heck back with us at weather.com for updates to this forecast as the details become clearer in the days ahead.

M​ORE ON WEATHER.COM

-​ Why Hurricane Season's More Active Phase May Arrive Earlier

-​ How To Prepare For Hurricane Season

-​ What's Been Deadliest In US Hurricanes, Tropical Storms Lately May Surprise You