Hurricane Beryl makes landfall again in Mexico as Cat 2. South Texas could be next
Hurricane Beryl made landfall in Tulum, Mexico, early Friday morning as a stronger-than-expected Category 2 storm, and it held onto that strength a few hours later as it sped across the Yucatan Peninsula.
Forecasters expect Beryl to slow to a tropical storm over land before re-emerging over the Gulf of Mexico, where it has just enough time to re-strengthen again into a Category 1 hurricane before making the first U.S. landfall of the season over South Texas.
The Caribbean is still reeling from the record-breaking hurricane, which claimed at least eight lives in the eastern Caribbean and Jamaica and destroyed most housing on some small islands. In Jamaica, plenty of homes remained without roofs, but official business had largely resumed by Friday morning.
Despite the hostile air conditions Beryl encountered in the last few days, plus its encounter with the rugged coast of Jamaica, the hurricane managed to regain Category 3-force winds late Thursday and hold onto them all night, the National Hurricane Center said. By Friday morning, however, the storm was down to a Category 2 and had a smaller wind field.
As of the 8 a.m. advisory, Beryl was a Category 2 hurricane with 100 mph maximum sustained winds, headed west-northwest at 15 mph. It was about 730 miles east-southeast of Brownsville, Texas.
