Weather Blog: Hurricane Beryl, rewriting history
AUGUSTA, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) - Hurricane Beryl officially reached category 5 strength on July 1st. MAx sustained winds at the time reached 165 mph near the eye. This is the earliest category 5 hurricane in a season on record. The previous record was set back in 2005 when Hurricane Emily became a category 5 storm on July 16th.
Beryl is an active storm that formed in the Atlantic as a tropical depression on June 28th. Over the past 5 days, Hurricane Beryl has moved westward into warmer seas which helped ramp up the intensity in a short period of time. On the evening of June 29th Beryl strengthened to a category 1 hurricane and intensified to a category 4 in less than 24 hours.
While category 5 hurricanes have formed in July before it is more common to see them in late August through September. We started the hurricane season with above-average sea surface temperatures which have likely contributed to the favorable conditions for tropical development this early.
Impacts have been felt on the Leeward Islands and Hurricane Warnings are in effect for Jamaica and the Cayman Islands.
Beryl is expected to weaken as it encounters wind shear and the mountainous terrain in Jamaica and will continue west toward Central America.
For the latest track of Beryl and more storms to come this season our First Alert Weather App available in the app store.
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