Hurricane Beryl is breaking records by leaving a trail of destruction in the southeastern Caribbean.
On Sunday, Beryl became the first Category 4 storm to form in the Atlantic Ocean in the month of June. Then it made history again on Monday, when it intensified to a Category 5 storm, becoming the first hurricane of this strength ever seen in the Atlantic Ocean.
Beryl now holds the title for the strongest hurricane on record for the month of July. The previous record was held by Hurricane Dennis, which hit Cuba as a Category 4 storm on July 8, 2005.
No storm has reached Beryl’s intensity level this early in the hurricane season, which runs from June 1 to November 30.
The hurricane hit the island of Carriacou on Monday and is expected to bring heavy rain, winds and potentially fatal flooding as it moves west through the Caribbean. Beryl is expected to pass near Jamaica on Wednesday.
The storm killed at least four people and authorities said the death toll could rise in the coming days.
At a press conference on Monday, Grenada Prime Minister Dickon Mitchell said Hurricane Beryl leveled Carriacou within half an hour. The storm is the strongest hurricane to ever hit the Windward Islands, which include Grenada, Saint Lucia and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines.
This year’s hurricane season is expected to be exceptionally busy, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The agency’s May outlook predicted eight to 13 hurricanes in what meteorologists said would likely be an “extraordinary” season.
The Atlantic’s unusually warm waters helped fuel Hurricane Beryl, which is only the third major hurricane – classified as Category 3 or higher – ever recorded in the Atlantic basin in June.
The storm is also the first major hurricane in 58 years: the last was Hurricane Alma, which reached Category 3 status on June 8, 1966.
The first major hurricane of the season typically forms in late August or early September, according to the National Hurricane Center.
The strength of Hurricane Beryl was also impressive. Several studies have shown that while climate change is not necessarily expected to increase the total number of hurricanes per year, warmer ocean temperatures will help strengthen those who form.
Beryl intensified from a tropical depression to a major hurricane in just 42 hours, at an impressive rate. The storm’s rapid intensification was made possible by warm water on the ocean’s surface, which acts as fuel for storm development. (The National Hurricane Center defines “rapid intensification” as an increase in sustained wind speeds of at least 35 mph over 24 hours.)
Experts said Beryl underwent the most rapid intensification of any hurricane that developed before September 1.
Scientists say thatIt is process of rapId intensification iis becoming more common as climate change increases sea surface temperatures.
Since 2010, several major hurricanes have undergone this process, including Dorian in 2019, which saw its peak winds increase from 150 mph to 185 mph in the span of just nine hours. Hurricane Ian experienced two episodes of rapid intensification in 2022 before making landfall in southwest Florida.
A 2017youto die found that storms whose sustained wind speeds increased by 70 mph over 24 hours would be expected to occur approximately once every 100 years. But if current levels of greenhouse gas emissions remain unchanged, storms of this level of intensification could occur every five to 10 years by the year 2100.
Rapid intensification is a major concern because storms that intensify quickly tend to be more destructive and can strike before people have time to evacuate or make adequate preparations.
Climate change is also causing more destructive hurricanes in general, because a warmer atmosphere can hold more moisture. This can lead storms to produce more intense rainfall, which can cause catastrophic flooding.
This article was originally published in NBCNews. with
