FL Watches Likely Path Of Category 5 Hurricane Beryl As It Moves Toward Jamaica

JAMAICA — Hurricane Beryl, now a powerful Category 5 storm, is charging across the Caribbean Sea as it makes its way toward Jamaica. Floridians are watching as the National Hurricane Center charts its possible path, which, so far, seems unlikely to include the Sunshine State.

The hurricane devastated the Windward Islands after making landfall Monday on Grenada’s Carriacou island as a Category 4 storm, according to CNN.

As of Tuesday morning, Beryl’s maximum sustained winds increased to 165 mph, upgrading it to a Category 5, forecasters with the National Hurricane Center said.

It’s the earliest Category 5 hurricane on record in the Atlantic by more than two weeks, beating Emily in 2005, Fox 13 meteorologist Paul Dellegatto wrote in a Facebook post.

It's also the 12th Category 5 storm on record in the eastern Caribbean and the first since Maria in 2017, he added.

Hurricane conditions, including heavy rainfall and flash flooding, are expected Wednesday over much of Jamaica.

The storm, which is moving west-northwest at 22 mph, could also affect Belize, the Yucatan Peninsula, Cuba and the southwestern Gulf of Mexico later this week, NHC said.

Denis Phillips, meteorologist for ABC Action News, said the storm could also hit parts of the United States, though it’s unlikely to hit Florida.

“Expect the NHC track to shift more to the north as the system moves through the Gulf increasing the likelihood of impacts on the United States this weekend,” Phillips wrote in a Facebook post. “The farther north the system tracks the less time it will stay over the Yucatan. This could mean a stronger system in the Gulf. Right now, still no threat to Florida.”

A strong high-pressure system across the Atlantic is causing Beryl’s current northward bend, Bryan Norcross, hurricane specialist for Fox Weather, said.

"The storm is being propelled by a strong high-pressure system sprawled across the Atlantic. The storminess along the East Coast of the U.S. yesterday was caused by a dip in the jet stream, which is weakening the high over the western Atlantic," he said. "This is why there is a northward bend in Beryl's track through the Caribbean. High pressure is forecast to build across the Southeast U.S. during the week, however, which should stop the northward movement, so Beryl resumes moving westward with perhaps a bend to the south."

Though the hurricane won’t have an impact on Florida, showers and thunderstorms are expected throughout the Tampa Bay area this week.

Check out the current forecast through Friday for the region from the National Weather Service:

• Tuesday: Scattered showers and thunderstorms, then showers likely and possibly a thunderstorm after 5 p.m. Mostly sunny, with a high near 94. Heat index values as high as 104. South southwest wind around 6 mph. Chance of precipitation is 60 percent. New rainfall amounts between a quarter and half of an inch possible.
• Tuesday night: Showers and thunderstorms likely, mainly before 11 p.m. Partly cloudy, with a low around 77. Calm wind. Chance of precipitation is 60 percent. New rainfall amounts between a tenth and quarter of an inch, except higher amounts possible in thunderstorms.
• Wednesday: Scattered showers and thunderstorms, then showers likely and possibly a thunderstorm after 2 p.m. Mostly sunny, with a high near 94. Heat index values as high as 105. Calm wind becoming south around 5 mph in the afternoon. Chance of precipitation is 60 percent. New rainfall amounts between a tenth and quarter of an inch, except higher amounts possible in thunderstorms.
• Wednesday night: Showers likely and possibly a thunderstorm before 8 p.m., then scattered showers and thunderstorms between 8 p.m. and 2 a.m. Partly cloudy, with a low around 77. Calm wind. Chance of precipitation is 60 percent.
• Thursday: Scattered showers and thunderstorms, mainly after 2 p.m. Sunny and hot, with a high near 95. Calm wind becoming south around 5 mph in the afternoon. Chance of precipitation is 40 percent.
• Thursday night: Scattered showers and thunderstorms, mainly before 8 p.m. Partly cloudy, with a low around 78. Calm wind. Chance of precipitation is 30 percent.
• Friday: Scattered showers and thunderstorms, mainly after 2 p.m. Mostly sunny, with a high near 94. Calm wind becoming west around 6 mph in the afternoon. Chance of precipitation is 50 percent.
• Friday night: Scattered showers and thunderstorms, mainly before 8 p.m. Partly cloudy, with a low around 79. Light and variable wind. Chance of precipitation is 30 percent.