Hurricane Beryl went through eyewall replacement as it strengthened. Here's what that means.
Hurricane Beryl underwent eyewall replacement before making landfall in the Lesser Antilles on Monday.
HOUSTON — Hurricane Beryl has shown impressive regenerative power throughout its life thus far, proven by its quick transformation into a Category 4 hurricane with 150 mph Sunday.
The storm has undergone some unique changes during its lifespan from the open Atlantic Ocean into the Caribbean Sea. As it has gotten stronger, it also has changed its appearance.
Beryl is expected to move across the Caribbean on Monday night and into Tuesday. It is expected to pass near Jamaica on Wednesday.
For a moment around 4:30 a.m. Monday, though, it appeared it had reached its maximum and was starting to reach its demise.
You'll notice the center of the storm no longer visible, suggesting it was collapsing. At this point, it briefly lost some wind energy and was downgraded to a category 3 hurricane.
And that was very brief indeed.
What was actually happening was something known as "eyewall replacement." This happens when a storm is so strong, is so powerful, the exterior of the eye -- its surrounding eyewall -- is sucking up the energy from the first eye to then develop into a stronger one.
By 6 a.m. Monday, the eye had once again emerged, although disheveled.
Three hours later, at 9 a.m., it was not just perfectly circular, signaling organized power but it was also larger and the storm itself faster, with 150 mph winds, registering as a high-end category 4 hurricane as it made landfall in the Lesser Antilles with wind gusts at 165 mph, which is considered to be category 5 strength.
Beryl is forecast to weaken as it tracks through the Caribbean but it could become a category 5 storm before it starts to slow down.
Here's KHOU 11 Meteorologist Kim Castro with an explanation of the transformation:
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