UPDATE: Beryl became the season's first hurricane on Saturday and is forecast to intensify quickly into a dangerous major hurricane before reaching Barbados late Sunday.
Hurricane Beryl is expected to bring life-threatening winds and storm surge to the Windward Islands as a major hurricane.
(CMR) Residents in the Cayman Islands are encouraged to use the weekend to increase preparations as Tropical Storm Beryl, which formed Friday night, heads towards the Caribbean and could become the first hurricane of the 2024 Atlantic storm season.
Beryl, the second tropical storm of the season, had maximum sustained winds of 60 mph as of Saturday morning and was traveling west at 21 mph toward the Windward Islands. The storm is expected to strengthen into a hurricane by Sunday when it reaches the Windward Islands, bringing heavy rain, winds, and a dangerous storm surge. Barbados has already issued a hurricane watch.
By Monday night, AccuWeather meteorologists warn that the hurricane could gain enough strength to be classified as a Category 3 major hurricane (sustained winds of at least 111 mph) as it passes west of the Windward Islands, into the Caribbean Sea, and toward the Gulf of Mexico.
According to The Weather Channel, one factor helping the storm develop is below-normal wind shear for this time of year, reducing the disruptive winds typically present during the early summer that can stunt hurricane development.
Current models show the storm passing just south of the Dominican Republic and Haiti, over Jamaica, the Cayman Islands and toward Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula.