Tropical Storm Beryl Set To Become 'Major Hurricane'
Tropical Storm Beryl, currently in the Atlantic Basin and east of the Windward Islands, could strengthen into the year's first hurricane before reaching Barbados late Sunday.
"Beryl is expected to rapidly strengthen and become a major hurricane when it reaches the Windward Islands late Sunday night or Monday. It will bring destructive hurricane-force winds and life-threatening storm surges," the National Hurricane Center wrote in a message on Saturday.
NHC issued a hurricane watch for Barbados as Beryl gained strength about 820 miles (1,320 km) east-southeast of the island nation. Beryl could soon become the first hurricane of the 2024 Atlantic storm season.
"The storm has been on a steady strengthening trend since it formed yesterday, and now that its structure is more symmetric and compact, it likely will have an opportunity to rapidly intensify given the low wind-shear conditions," NHC senior hurricane specialist John Cangialosi wrote in a note.
Cangialosi said, "The new NHC intensity forecast explicitly calls for rapid strengthening and shows Beryl becoming a major hurricane before moving across the Windward Islands."
"There have only been a few storms in history that have formed over the central or eastern tropical Atlantic this early in the year," he noted.
Tropical Storm #Beryl forms in the Atlantic… forecast to become a Major Hurricane#wxtwitter #wxX pic.twitter.com/gKJjnX3Wgm
— Mark Margavage (@MeteoMark) June 29, 2024
In May, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration predicted an above-normal 2024 Atlantic hurricane season of 17 to 25 named storms, including as many as 13 hurricanes.
We have pointed out that this hurricane season, the Biden administration must contend with an elevated number of storms. It only takes one major storm to disrupt Gulf Coast refineries, which would catapult average gasoline prices at the pump to the politically sensitive $4 a gallon before the elections this fall.