--- title: How Hurricane Beryl Is Shattering Storm Records description: Hurricane Beryl became the earliest major hurricane to reach Category 5 intensity in the Atlantic Ocean. Here's what to know. canonical: https://time.com/6994446/hurricane-beryl-shatters-storm-records/ author: Armani Syed article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2024-07-02T13:07:10.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-10-19T07:44:04.503Z article:section: Climate og:title: How Hurricane Beryl Is Shattering Storm Records og:description: Hurricane Beryl became the earliest major hurricane to reach Category 5 intensity in the Atlantic Ocean. Here's what to know. og:url: https://time.com/6994446/hurricane-beryl-shatters-storm-records/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt60a2591167129922/698a585bb3fce33e480cd548/hurricane-beryl-barbados.jpg?branch=production&width=1024&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1024 og:image:height: 576 og:image:alt: A boy clears rock from the street as it gets flooded after the hurricane Beryl in Barbados. og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: How Hurricane Beryl Is Shattering Storm Records twitter:description: Hurricane Beryl became the earliest major hurricane to reach Category 5 intensity in the Atlantic Ocean. Here's what to know. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt60a2591167129922/698a585bb3fce33e480cd548/hurricane-beryl-barbados.jpg?branch=production&width=1024&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # How Hurricane Beryl Is Shattering Storm Records > Sponsored content. 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Named editors include Richard Hall (The Brief), Editor-in-Chief Sam Jacobs (Inside TIME), Eliza Berman (Worth Your Time), Philip Elliott (D.C. Brief), Justin Worland (Future Proof) and Harry Booth (In the Loop). Health Matters is written by TIME's health desk. #### How do I sign up for a TIME newsletter? Go to time.com/newsletters, choose the newsletters you want and enter your email address. There is no cost and no subscription requirement. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-network-2026q3/newsletters?i=f6bb95be-48e7-4c6a-8510-8242f9586977&cr=time-nl-network-2026q3-v1) ## Video: How Hurricane Beryl Is Shattering Storm Records [Watch (HLS stream): How Hurricane Beryl Is Shattering Storm Records](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/XnSusfo8.m3u8) (2:00)  _Published 2024-07-02. Hurricane Beryl continues to cause havoc on the island of St.Vincent, where rough seas and strong winds sunk one boat and ran another aground._  by [Armani Syed](https://time.com/author/armani-syed/)  ## Armani Syed Syed was a reporter for TIME, based in the London bureau. Jul 2, 2024 1:07 PM UTC Hurricane Beryl continues to cause havoc on the island of St.Vincent, where rough seas and strong winds sunk one boat and ran another aground.  by [Armani Syed](https://time.com/author/armani-syed/)  ## Armani Syed Syed was a reporter for TIME, based in the London bureau. Jul 2, 2024 1:07 PM UTC Hurricane Beryl has been [upgraded to Category 5](https://time.com/6994279/here-is-the-path-powerful-hurricane-beryl-is-expected-to-take/) intensity, marking the earliest a storm of this strength has formed in the Atlantic ocean. Beryl, which became the first hurricane of the 2024 season in the Atlantic on Saturday, has since brought down power lines, damaged buildings, and flooded streets across a number of southeastern Caribbean islands. Among the affected nations are Barbados, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Trinidad and Tobago, and Grenada. “In half an hour, Carriacou was flattened,” Grenadian Prime Minister Dickon Mitchell [said on Monday](https://www.france24.com/en/americas/20240702-hurricane-beryl-strengthens-to-earliest-category-5-storm-on-record-as-it-pummels-caribbean). Grenada’s national disaster co-ordinator Terence Walter has said he has received “reports of devastation” from locals in Carriacou and surrounding islands. Grenada’s state of emergency has been extended until July 7, [CNN reported](https://edition.cnn.com/2024/07/02/weather/hurricane-beryl-jamaica-caribbean-forecast/index.html), as 95% of the island has been left without power. At least one person has died on Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Prime Minister Ralph Gonsalves said Monday. “There may well be more fatalities,” [he said](https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c10lnnz1yj0o) during a national address. Parts of the country have been left without electricity and water, while around 90% of the homes on Union Island are partially or completely damaged. The hurricane is currently [headed toward Jamaica](https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/hurricane-beryl-live-tracker-damage-category-5-advisory-b2572295.html) with maximum sustained winds of 165 miles per hour. A hurricane warning is in effect in Jamaica and officials have activated natural disaster response protocols. On Sunday, the hurricane became the earliest major hurricane in the Atlantic in 58 years, as well as the only hurricane in June to reach Category 4 intensity. Experts say the chart-topping hurricane forming so early into the season—which spans June to November—is due to climate change-linked rising ocean temperatures. “The oceanic warmth is what we’d expect in early September, the time of year the tropical North Atlantic’s main developmental region’s heat is building toward its annual maximum,” Christopher Rozoff, an atmospheric scientist at the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Colorado, tells TIME. “Warm sea surface temperatures are conducive to providing the lower atmosphere the heat and moisture that fuel tropical storm systems.” Beryl overtook a record set by the deadly Hurricane Dennis, which brought the earliest Category 4 storm of a season on July 8, 2005\. The same year also saw hurricanes [Katrina](https://time.com/3210311/hurricane-katrina-the-aftermath/), Rita, and Wilma in the Atlantic. Beryl is also the strongest hurricane to pass through the southernmost Windward Islands, the site of past intense storms including Hurricane Janet, which hit Grenada with 115 mph winds in 1955, and saw 147 people killed, [according](https://www.uwi.edu/ekacdm/node/116) to the University of the West Indies. In 2004, Hurricane Ivan hit wind speeds of 135 mph, killing 41 people in Grenada. The U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has estimated between [17 to 25 storms](https://www.economist.com/united-states/2024/05/30/america-could-face-its-most-active-hurricane-season-ever) this season, with eight to 13 expected to be hurricanes, and four to seven “major hurricanes,” which are categorized by winds of at least 111 mph. While Beryl could weaken over the course of this week, it is expected to remain at least a Category 3 storm as it continues in its westward path. The hurricane is expected to pass Jamaica on Wednesday, before arriving at the Yucatan peninsula in Mexico on Friday, per the U.S. National Hurricane Center. Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic, and Haiti will also feel the effects of Beryl, but they will be further from the storm’s eye. “After Wednesday, the intensity forecast becomes much more uncertain,” Rozoff says. “At the moment, the National Hurricane Center shows a gradual weakening throughout the week, but people in the path should remain alert to the forecast uncertainty and all watches and warnings.” ## Transcript And we have loads of roofs that are off. We have, you know, we have no powers. It's been a challenging 24 hours, as you could imagine. I'm not used to this kind of weather. This is actually the strongest storm that we've had come through St. Vincent in my lifetime. And I hope that I don't have another one. And to be fair, this wasn't even a direct hit. The eye of the storm was closer down to Caraco and Grenada. We basic basically got the Northeastern quadrant where we got loads of wind and rain and stuff. So I shudder to think what it would be like if we actually had a direct hit, sitting in the house, looking at the roof. And the wind was just constant. You could hear the galvanize on the roof just having it a conversation, and you were really just hoping for the best. And all around me, there were houses in the village. Their roofs were flying past. You could see it passing. It was it was just a terrifying experience. Once you've experienced it, then you know. But until then, trust me, it's crazy. I am worried because it seems as though it's going to be a very active one. But I'm just hoping for the best. I'm hoping that, you know, the trade winds pick up, and I'm hoping that we have that upward trough that we usually have that usually keeps S Vincent Granite safe. You know, this wall used to be the perimeter fence for Massy supermarket. And basically, this is what we have now. The water came up, and there was basically seawater everywhere in this compound yesterday. So this is just a little you know, taste of the damage that we've had, as I said, the roofs off, everywhere. I don't think there's anybody on the island or even in the grenadines who can see that they haven't been affected in one way or the other by the storm. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/6994446/hurricane-beryl-shatters-storm-records/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/6994446/hurricane-beryl-shatters-storm-records/"},"headline":"How Hurricane Beryl Is Shattering Storm Records","datePublished":"2024-07-02T13:07:10.000Z","dateModified":"2026-10-19T07:44:04.503Z","description":"It is the earliest major hurricane to reach Category 5 intensity in the Atlantic Ocean. 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