Hurricane Beryl, the first of the season, which was located some 1,050 km south of Martinique on the night of Saturday to Sunday, continues to strengthen and could reach category 4, announced at 05:00 local time (09:00 GMT) the National Hurricane Center (NHC) in Miami (United States), which is the reference in the Atlantic basin.
This hurricane is now coming in with winds of 100 mph (160 km/h), accompanied by stronger gusts, and the NHC predicts it could strengthen to a Category 4,”extremely dangerous“. On Saturday evening, American and French weather authorities had predicted that Beryl would strengthen to the level of a “major hurricane before reaching the Windward Islands”or Lesser Antilles, between Sunday evening and Monday.
A major hurricane is equivalent to a Category 3 or higher hurricane, with winds reaching 178 km/h.
According to experts, such a phenomenon so early in the hurricane season – which extends from the beginning of June to the end of November in the United States – would be very rare. In category 4, winds reach 210 km/h. A hurricane watch is in effect for the islands of Barbados, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines and Grenada. On Saturday, Martinique, Dominica and the island of Tobago were placed on tropical storm watch.
As of Friday, the prefect of Martinique had put the island’s departmental operational center on standby, the French territory most threatened by the probable trajectory of the storm. Météo France predicts the passage of the phenomenon “on the Lesser Antilles, between Tobago for the southernmost island and the South of Martinique for the northernmost island” between next Monday and Tuesday.
“It is already very likely that the sea state will be very rough from Sunday evening, and particularly during the day of Monday“, the French government services in Martinique have predicted. Waves of 5 metres are expected in the Sainte-Lucie channel, south of the French island.
Béryl was the second tropical phenomenon named since the beginning of June in the Atlantic basin, and it is now the first hurricane. The 2024 hurricane season is announced by Météo France as “one of the most intense years” in this area. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) also forecast an extraordinary season at the end of May, predicting the possibility of four to seven Category 3 or higher hurricanes.
These forecasts are particularly linked to the expected development of the La Nina weather phenomenon in the near future, as well as to the very high temperatures in the Atlantic Ocean, NOAA said.
Global warming is making extreme weather events, such as hurricanes, more frequent and more devastating.
