Category 4 Hurricane Beryl Makes Landfall In Caribbean

FLORIDA — The first Atlantic hurricane of the year, Hurricane Beryl, is barreling across the Caribbean as a strong Category 4 storm.

As it hits the Windward Islands Monday, Beryl will “remain an extremely dangerous major hurricane,” forecasters with the National Hurricane Center said.

The storm became a major Category 3 hurricane Sunday morning before being upgraded to a Category 4 with 140 mph winds Monday morning, according to AccuWeather.

As of late Monday morning, hurricane hunters found winds up to 150 mph, Denis Phillips, meteorologist for ABC Action News, wrote in a Facebook post.

Beryl is bringing “potentially catastrophic hurricane-force winds, a life-threatening storm surge and damaging waves” to parts of the islands, NHC forecasters said. The biggest risk will be to the core of St. Vincent and the Grenadines and Grenada late morning. Hurricane warnings are in effect for the islands.

Once it passes over the islands, it’s expected to remain a powerful hurricane as it moves across the Caribbean Sea later this week. A tropical storm watch is already in effect for portions of the southern coast of the Dominican Republic and Haiti, NHC said.

Beryl became the strongest hurricane for so early in the season in this sector of the Atlantic and may be the strongest system to ever cross Grenada and portions of St. Vincent and the Grenadines, AccuWeather said.

The last strong hurricane to hit the southeast Caribbean was Hurricane Ivan 20 years ago, which killed dozens of people in Grenada.

The hurricane is moving across the Caribbean toward the Yucatan Peninsula. It likely won’t pose a problem for the Sunshine State, forecasters said.

“Beryl will move quickly across the Caribbean Sea this week as a subtropical ridge north of the storm steers it to the west. Some impacts to Jamaica and the Cayman Islands are possible, though the hurricane should weaken as it moves into the western Caribbean. Beryl should pass well to the south of Florida,” Fox 13’s Paul Dellegatto wrote in a Facebook post.

Check out the Tampa Bay-area forecast from the National Weather Service for this week:

• Monday: Scattered showers and thunderstorms, then showers likely and possibly a thunderstorm after 4 p.m. Mostly sunny, with a high near 92. Heat index values as high as 102. South southwest wind 5 to 7 mph. Chance of precipitation is 60 percent. New rainfall amounts of less than a tenth of an inch, except higher amounts possible in thunderstorms.
• Monday Night: Scattered showers and thunderstorms, mainly before 8 p.m. Partly cloudy, with a low around 77. Light and variable wind. Chance of precipitation is 30 percent.
• Tuesday: Scattered showers and thunderstorms, mainly after 2 p.m. Sunny, with a high near 94. Heat index values as high as 104. Southeast wind 3 to 6 mph. Chance of precipitation is 50 percent. New rainfall amounts of less than a tenth of an inch, except higher amounts possible in thunderstorms.
• Tuesday Night: Scattered showers and thunderstorms before 2 a.m. Partly cloudy, with a low around 78. Calm wind. Chance of precipitation is 30 percent.
• Wednesday: Isolated showers and thunderstorms between 8 a.m. and 2 p.m., then showers likely and possibly a thunderstorm after 2 p.m.. Sunny, with a high near 94. Calm wind becoming east southeast around 5 mph in the afternoon. Chance of precipitation is 70 percent.
• 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. Light and variable wind. Chance of precipitation is 60 percent.
• Thursday: Scattered showers and thunderstorms, mainly after 2 p.m. Sunny, with a high near 94. Calm wind becoming south southeast around 5 mph in the afternoon. Chance of precipitation is 50 percent.
• Thursday Night: Scattered showers and thunderstorms, mainly before 8 p.m. Partly cloudy, with a low around 78. Light and variable wind. Chance of precipitation is 30 percent.
• Friday: Scattered showers and thunderstorms between 8 a.m. and 2 p.m., then showers likely and possibly a thunderstorm after 2 p.m. Sunny and hot, with a high near 96. Calm wind becoming west around 6 mph in the afternoon. Chance of precipitation is 60 percent.
• Friday Night: Showers likely and possibly a thunderstorm before 8 p.m., then isolated showers and thunderstorms between 8 p.m. and 2 a.m. Partly cloudy, with a low around 79. Chance of precipitation is 60 percent.

This story includes reporting from The Associated Press.