Hurricane Beryl Is Now Earliest Category 5 Atlantic Hurricane

UPDATE Jul 2, 2024 12:24 AM CDT

A day after it became the earliest Category 4 Atlantic hurricane on record, Hurricane Beryl became the earliest Category 5 Atlantic hurricane on record—and just the second ever to reach Category 5 in July. At least one person was killed as Beryl devastated the Windward Islands Monday, CNN reports. "Fluctuations in strength are likely during the next day or so, but Beryl is expected to still be near major hurricane intensity as it moves into the central Caribbean and passes near Jamaica on Wednesday," the National Hurricane Center says.

Jul 1, 2024 12:00 AM CDT

An unwanted milestone was reached Sunday when Hurricane Beryl became a Category 4 storm earlier in the year than any other storm has reached that intensity in the Atlantic. Caribbean islands were preparing for dangerous and destructive conditions starting Monday morning. "All preparations should be rushed to completion today," the National Hurricane Center posted in an update Sunday. As of Sunday, Beryl's maximum sustained winds were at 130mph, the Washington Post reports. In the Lesser Antilles island chain, residents and tourists were told to shelter indoors and storefronts were closed. Barbados, St. Lucia, St. Vincent and the Grenadine Islands, Grenada, and Tobago are under hurricane warnings, while points as far north as the Dominican Republic and Haiti are under tropical storm advisories, the AP reports.

The storm is expected to pass just south of Barbados early Monday before heading toward Jamaica through the Caribbean Sea. It was expected to remain a hurricane, though weakening by the middle of the week, as it continues toward Mexico. Prior to Beryl, the earliest Category 4 Atlantic hurricane on record was Hurricane Dennis on July 8, 2005. Another unwanted milestone for Beryl? It is just the seventh Atlantic hurricane to strengthen from a tropical depression to a major hurricane in 42 hours or fewer, and the earliest any other Atlantic hurricane has done so was on September 1. (More hurricane stories.)