Deadly Hurricane Beryl now a record-breaking Category 5. Here’s why

Payton Davis
·2 min read
2
A fisherman looks at fishing vessels damaged by Hurricane Beryl at the Bridgetown Fisheries in Barbados, Monday, July 1, 2024. Hurricane Beryl caused damage across the Caribbean islands and killed four people on Monday and is now a Category 5 hurricane.
A fisherman looks at fishing vessels damaged by Hurricane Beryl at the Bridgetown Fisheries in Barbados, Monday, July 1, 2024. Hurricane Beryl caused damage across the Caribbean islands and killed four people on Monday and is now a Category 5 hurricane. | Ricardo Mazalan

Hurricane Beryl caused damage across the Caribbean islands and killed four people on Monday and is now a Category 5 hurricane.

Beryl was expected to strike Jamaica on Tuesday, according to The Associated Press. The hurricane may lose strength but is still projected to be near “major hurricane strength” from its path “near or over” Jamaica to Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula in the next few days.

How did Hurricane Beryl make history?

Beryl is the earliest Category 5 hurricane ever by 15 days, Local10.com reported. It is now the strongest July hurricane on record.

  • Hurricane Emily, the previous earliest Category 5, became a Category 5 on July 17, 2005.

  • Beryl’s record may be due to “record warm waters” in the Atlantic, according to The Associated Press.

  • Records for hurricanes began in 1851.

Beryl is the 41st Category 5 Atlantic hurricane ever, according to Local10.com.

“A Category 5 hurricane is defined as a hurricane with sustained winds above 157 mph,” Yahoo! News reported.

What did Hurricane Beryl do Monday?

Beryl tore through Grenada on Monday, according to CNN.

Electricity outages and water shortages are an issue in parts of the islands that have been struck.

The Associated Press reported that three people were reported killed in Grenada and one in St. Vincent and the Grenadines.

Barbados and Trinidad and Tobago also felt Beryl’s force Monday, according to Yahoo! News.

Family members begin to repair their home damaged in the passing of Hurricane Beryl, in Ottley Hall, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Tuesday, July 2, 2024. Hurricane Beryl caused damage across the Caribbean islands and killed four people on Monday and is now a Category 5 hurricane. | Lucanus Ollivierre
Family members begin to repair their home damaged in the passing of Hurricane Beryl, in Ottley Hall, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Tuesday, July 2, 2024. Hurricane Beryl caused damage across the Caribbean islands and killed four people on Monday and is now a Category 5 hurricane. | Lucanus Ollivierre

What is next for Hurricane Beryl?

The hurricane should be near or over Jamaica by Wednesday, according to Local10.com. Beryl should be on track for Yucatan Peninsula and Gulf of Mexico this weekend.

In the bigger picture, Beryl could signal “one of the busiest hurricane seasons on record,” Yahoo! News reported. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration expects eight to 13 hurricanes in the Atlantic this year.

Beryl isn’t a threat to Florida, according to Local10.com.

How do hurricanes get their names?

Hurricane names are commonplace names that will help authorities keep the public up to date on the threat. The specific names that hurricanes are given are “based on names that would feel familiar to the specific region experiencing hurricanes.”

In a given year, the names are given to hurricanes in alphabetical order and rotate between feminine and masculine names.

  • The storms were initially given female names, partly to continue “the tradition of sailors naming ships after the gender mostly absent on them,” The New Yorker reported.