Trouble in the Tropics: Tracking Beryl, first named hurricane of the season
Friday, July 6 Update:
We are finally getting some relief from the heat this weekend, but we have something else brewing in the tropics.
Over a matter of 24 hours, a disturbance about 1,000 miles east-southeast of the Lesser Antilles (Arc of Caribbean islands that extends from the US Virgin Islands to Grenada) has picked up some strength and we now have our first hurricane of the 2018 Atlantic Hurricane season, Hurricane Beryl.
While Beryl is a small hurricane, there is a great amount of uncertainty in Beryl’s intensity both now and in the coming days, according to the National Hurricane Center (NHC).
Beryl is forecast to remain a hurricane upon reaching the Lesser Antilles, where there will likely be rain and some wind impacts on those islands early next week. Because Beryl is a small hurricane, it is too early to determine exactly where those impacts will occur. According to the NHC, the chance of some islands receiving direct impacts from wind and rainfall are increasing.
Luckily, Beryl will be going against two big factors that will likely suppress any further development in the system going into next week.
Wind shear and dry air will come into play, both of which will cause this system to gradually weaken.
At the moment, It is predicted to pass south of Puerto Rico late Monday into Tuesday. This is good news because much of the island is still recovering from the destruction of Hurricane Maria last year.
The Atlantic hurricane season runs from June 1 to November 30, and peaks from mid-August to late-October.
