Historic Category 5 Hurricane Beryl now strongest hurricane ever to form in June or July
Beryl made history as it became the strongest Atlantic hurricane on record in June or July, and also became the earliest Category 5 storm on record on July 1.
Hurricane Beryl sets multiple records as it roars to a Category 5 strength
Beryl has reached historic status as it strengthened to a monster Category 5 storm Monday night, setting records for strongest storm in June and July, amid other records.
Hurricane Beryl continued to charge west, breaking several records as it rapidly intensified through the Atlantic Basin.
Beryl has made history on multiple fronts. First, it became the strongest Atlantic hurricane on record in June, beating out Hurricane Audrey in 1957. The storm intensified from a tropical depression into a major Category 3 hurricane in less than 48 hours, a feat never before achieved earlier than September.
Beryl also formed farther east than any other June hurricane since records began in the mid-1800s. The previous record was held by Hurricane Two, which formed in 1933 while off the northern coast of South America.
TRACKING BERYL: SEE THE HURRICANE'S LIVE FORECAST
A look at Hurricane Beryl on Sunday, June 30, 2024.
(NOAA)
Typically, the basin doesn't see its first major hurricane until around Sept. 1.
Beryl then rewrote the record books as the calendar flipped to July. As wind gusts reached 160 mph on the night of July 1, Beryl became the earliest Category 5 hurricane on record.
The previous record was held by Hurricane Emily on July 16, 2005.
Hours later, it broke another record when peak wind gusts increased to 165 mph, passing Emily as the strongest hurricane on record in July.
READ: BERYL BECOMES RECORD-BREAKING CATEGORY 5 HURRICANE
Impacts from major hurricanes are infrequent in the southeastern Caribbean, with hurricanes Dennis and Emily setting records in 2005 for their peak intensities.
The name Beryl has been used on rotating lists managed by the World Meteorological Organization since 1982.
This chart shows the amount of tropical cyclone activity, in terms of named storms and hurricanes, that occurs in the Atlantic Basin on each calendar day between May 1 and Dec. 31. Specifically, it shows the number of hurricanes (yellow area) and the combined named storms and hurricanes (red area) that occur on each calendar day over a 100-year period. The chart is based on data from the 77-year period from 1944 to 2020 (starting at the beginning of the aircraft reconnaissance era) but normalized to 100 years.
(National Hurricane Center / NOAA)