The season’s first hurricane has formed in the Tropical Atlantic. Hurricane Beryl has 75 mph and it is heading westward. It is forecast to strengthen quickly and it will likely be a major hurricane by Sunday night. It has been decades since there has been a major hurricane in the Atlantic Basin in the month of June.
Beryl is a well organized hurricane with 75 mph winds as of the 5pm advisory. Notice on the loop the feathering of clouds and this is a sign that Beryl is undergoing strengthening with little wind shear to get in the way. The forecast is for Beryl to reach 100 knots or 115 mph before reaching the Windwards later Sunday night or early Monday.
Photo byNational Hurricane Center
The forecast from the Hurricane Center has Hurricane and Tropical Storm Watches up for the Windward and Southern Leeward Islands. The track model forecasts are all in tight agreement and move the storm west or west northwest for the next 5 days or so.
Photo byTropical Tidbits
Once Beryl reaches the Eastern Caribbean it will run into increasing west winds in the upper atmosphere so we could see the storm weaken as it heads across the Caribbean next week. It is not a threat to the East Coast or Florida thanks to a strong ridge aloft that extends from the Southwest Atlantic westward across the Gulf States.