Hurricane Beryl strengthens into Category 5 as it churns towards Jamaica

Hurricane Beryl strengthened into a Category 5 storm Monday night, intensifying after making landfall on Carriacou Island, Grenada’s second-largest island, earlier in the day. Beryl’s sustained winds have now reached 165 mph, according to the National Hurricane Center, and a hurricane warning has been issued for Jamaica later this week.

Beryl is now the earliest storm to reach the most severe Category 5 level in the Atlantic. Its emergence marks an early start to the 2024 Atlantic hurricane season, which typically doesn’t ramp up until late July or August.

Here's what you need to know.

🌊 Beryl is now a Category 5

Beryl's escalation into a Category 5 hurricane is expected to bring "life-threatening winds" and storm surge to Jamaica Wednesday, according to the hurricane center.

A Category 5 hurricane is defined as a hurricane with sustained winds above 157 mph.

Due to record warm water temperatures for this time of year, Beryl transformed from a tropical depression on Friday to a tropical storm on Saturday morning, before it was upgraded to a hurricane hours later. Its strength has intensified quickly from there.

☔️ What is Hurricane Beryl’s path?

The hurricane center said Beryl first made landfall on Carriacou Monday morning.

Beryl’s wind speed was the strongest on record for the Grenada, the Grenadines and St. Vincent, according to Weather Channel senior meteorologist Jonathan Erdman.

Barbados and Trinidad and Tobago were also among the areas feeling Beryl's impact early Monday.

A hurricane warning is now in effect for Jamaica on Wednesday, where heavy rains and flash flooding are possible. Hurricane watches are in effect for Grand Cayman, Little Cayman and Cayman Brac, and a tropical storm warning is in effect for parts of the island of Hispaniola.

Storm warnings are issued for an area when weather conditions are expected to arrive within 36 hours.

Those in Belize, the Yucatan Peninsula, the remainder of the northwest Caribbean, and the southwest Gulf of Mexico are advised by the hurricane center to monitor the storm's progress, as Beryl's path later in the week is uncertain.

➡️ Experts shocked at Beryl's rapid intensification

Michael Lowry, a hurricane and storm surge expert, told the Associated Press that this rapidly developing hurricane is a "very serious threat."

"Beryl is an extremely dangerous and rare hurricane for this time of year in this area," he said in a phone interview with the AP. "Unusual is an understatement. Beryl is already a historic hurricane."

The last strong hurricane to affect the southeast Caribbean was Hurricane Ivan in September 2004. Ivan battered Grenada as a Category 3 and killed 39 people.

Hurricane Beryl is both the earliest Category 4 and Category 5 storm on record in the Atlantic.

🌎 The start of a busy Atlantic hurricane season

Experts agree that this could be one of the busiest hurricane seasons on record. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration announced in May that it expected eight to 13 hurricanes in the Atlantic, with four to seven of them classified as major hurricanes, meaning at least 111 mph winds.