ORLANDO, Fla. – The 2024 hurricane season is already off to a historic start.
Hurricane Beryl has now shattered three long-standing records for the Atlantic basin.
On Saturday, Beryl became the easternmost hurricane to ever develop during the month of June. Beryl formed further east than Elsa in 2021 and an unnamed hurricane that formed east of Trinidad and Tobago in 1933.
1933 would go on to be the most intense hurricane season on record.
While rare, June hurricanes are possible, however they are typically found in the Western Caribbean or Gulf of Mexico, not east of the Lesser Antilles.
Beryl went on to become the strongest June hurricane on record for the Atlantic basin, beating Hurricane Audrey in 1957. Audrey had winds of 125 mph.
Hurricane Beryl then became the earliest category 4 storm on record, beating Dennis from July of 2005.
2005 would go on to be the second most intense hurricane season on record. 1957 wound up being a below average season after Audrey. Intensity is measured by accumulated cyclone energy, ACE, taking into account strength and longevity once a storm reaches tropical storm status.
Hurricane Beryl also underwent rapid intensification, increasing at least 35mph in a 24 hour period. This is something more commonly witnessed during the peak of hurricane season.
For more perspective, the last two times the Windward Islands were impacted by a major hurricane was Maria in 2017 and Ivan in 2004. Both of those storms were in September, the peak of hurricane season.