SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (NEWSnet/AP) — Hurricane Beryl was expected to make landfall Monday morning in the Windward Islands as a Category 3 storm after having reached Category 4 strength for a time on Sunday.

Hurricane warnings were in effect ahead of the storm for Barbados, St. Lucia, Grenada, Tobago and St. Vincent and the Grenadines.

 

“This is a very dangerous situation,” warned the U.S. National Hurricane Center in Miami, saying Beryl was “forecast to bring life-threatening winds and storm surge.”

Beryl was centered about 110 miles south-southeast of Barbados early Monday. It had maximum sustained winds of 120 mph and was moving west at 20 mph. It is a compact storm, with hurricane-force winds extending 30 miles from its center.

It had gained Category 4 strength Sunday before weakening slightly, and further fluctuations in strength were forecast.

A tropical storm warning was in effect for Martinique and Trinidad. A tropical storm watch was issued for Dominica, Haiti’s entire southern coast, and from Punta Palenque in the Dominican Republic west to the border with Haiti.

Beryl was expected to pass just south of Barbados early Monday and then head into the Caribbean Sea as a major hurricane on a path toward Jamaica. It was forecast to weaken by midweek, but still remain a hurricane while heading toward Mexico.

Historic hurricane

 

Beryl reached Category 3 hurricane status Sunday morning, becoming the first major hurricane east of the Lesser Antilles on record for June, according to Philip Klotzbach, Colorado State University hurricane researcher.

It took Beryl only 42 hours to strengthen from a tropical depression to a major hurricane — a feat accomplished only six other times in Atlantic hurricane history, and with Sept. 1 as the previous earliest date, hurricane expert Sam Lillo said.

Beryl then gained more power, becoming the earliest Category 4 Atlantic hurricane on record, besting Hurricane Dennis, which became a Category 4 storm on July 8, 2005, hurricane specialist and storm surge expert Michael Lowry said.

“Beryl is an extremely dangerous and rare hurricane for this time of year in this area,” Lowry said in a phone interview. “Unusual is an understatement. Beryl is already a historic hurricane and it hasn’t struck yet.”

Bracing for the Storm

 

Thousands of people were in Barbados for Saturday’s Twenty20 World Cup final, cricket’s biggest event, with Prime Minister Mia Mottley noting that not all fans were able to leave Sunday despite many rushing to change their flights.

“Some of them have never gone through a storm before,” she said. “We have plans to take care of them.”

Mottley said all businesses should close by Sunday evening and warned that the airport would close by nighttime.

In St. Lucia, Prime Minister Philip J. Pierre announced a national shutdown Sunday evening and said schools and businesses would remain closed Monday.

“Preservation and protection of life is a priority,” he said.

Looking Ahead

 

This year is forecast to be an above-average hurricane season in the Atlantic, which runs from June 1 to Nov. 30. Earlier this month, Tropical Storm Alberto came ashore in northeastern Mexico with heavy rains that resulted in four deaths.

Tropical Depression Chris has already formed, the National Hurricane Center reports, with heavy rainfall and flooding expected in Mexico.

 

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