Hurricane Beryl made history as it approached the Windward Islands Sunday, strengthening into the first Category 4 storm ever to form in June.
NOAA and Air Force Reserve hurricane hunter aircraft data collected Sunday morning indicated that Beryl had strengthened into an extremely dangerous storm with maximum sustained wind speeds of 130 mph and even more powerful gusts.
The storm does not pose a threat to Louisiana at this time.
“Although Beryl is still on the small side, the wind field is a little larger than previously noted with the tropical-storm-force winds estimated to extend up to 100 nautical miles from the center and hurricane-force winds up to 25 nautical miles from the eye,” Senior Hurricane Specialist John Cangialosi said in a 10 a.m. discussion message. “Satellite images show that Beryl has a classic major hurricane pattern with a clear and circular eye and symmetric convective pattern surrounding it.”
Cangialosi said a gradual increase Beryl’s intensity should level off and then gradually weaken as it moves across the Caribbean Sea and faces increased shear. However, he said, Beryl is expected to remain a significant hurricane through the next five days.
