Topline
Hurricane Beryl could potentially bring hurricane-force winds and flooding to southern Texas late Sunday and Monday, the National Hurricane Center said, hours after the record-breaking hurricane made landfall as a Category 2 storm in Mexico.
Key Facts
Hurricane Beryl has torn through the Caribbean and continues on a northwestern path towards the Texas coast.
There is an “increasing risk of hurricane-force winds, life threatening storm surge, and flooding” for portions of northeast Mexico and the lower-middle Texas coast beginning late Sunday, according to the latest advisory from the NHC.
The storm’s current trajectory expects it to travel northwest before curve northward somewhat toward Texas by early Monday, though forecasters typically caution it’s difficult to predict hurricanes’ exact trajectory several days in advance.
Warnings will likely be issued for a “portion of northeast Mexico and lower-middle Texas” later Friday, NHC said, with a hurricane warning already in place for Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula coast south of Cancun and a hurricane watch for areas north and west of Cancun
Key Background
Hurricane Beryl, the first hurricane of the 2024 season, made history as the earliest recorded category 4—and later category 5—Atlantic hurricane. The storm made landfall in Grenada’s Carriacou Island on Monday, causing devastation in the Caribbean islands and Jamaica. At least nine people have died in the storm, the Associated Press reported Thursday. In late May, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration forecasted the busiest Atlantic hurricane season in its history. Scientists have partly blamed increasingly severe weather events to human-created climate change, which can make hurricanes more powerful by warming the ocean and worsen storm surges by raising sea levels. The return of La Niña, a weather phenomena that causes high ocean surface temperatures, has also been predicted to contribute to 2024’s anticipated severe hurricane season.
Further Reading
Hurricane Beryl lashes Mexican coast near top beaches after Caribbean destruction (Reuters)
Hurricane Beryl strengthens back into a Category 3 storm as it nears Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula (AP)
Hurricane Beryl Makes Landfall On Caribbean Island As Major Category 4 Storm (Forbes)
Government Forecasters Issue Most Dire Hurricane Season Prediction In Their History—Here’s Why (Forbes)