Hurricane Beryl Set to Strike Jamaica Carrying 155 MPH Winds, Life-Threatening Storm Surge on Wednesday
By Space Coast Daily // July 2, 2024
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BREVARD COUNTY, FLORIDA – Jamaica is gearing up for one of the strongest hurricanes to hit the island in recent memory. National Hurricane Center released their latest report Tuesday afternoon on Hurricane Beryl, a category 4 hurricane, which shows the system carrying life threatening 155 mph max sustained winds and catastrophic storm surge.
Beryl is currently moving toward the west-northwest near 22 mph, and this general motion should continue through Wednesday, followed by a turn more toward the west on Thursday.
The center of Beryl is expected to move quickly across the central Caribbean Sea today and is forecast to pass near Jamaica on Wednesday and the Cayman Islands on Thursday.
The center is forecast to approach the Yucatan Peninsula of Mexico on Thursday night.
Reports from an Air Force Reserve Hurricane Hunter aircraft indicate that maximum sustained winds are near 155 mph with higher gusts. Beryl is a category 4 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale.
Weakening is forecast later today, but Beryl is still expected to be near major hurricane intensity as it moves into the central Caribbean and passes near Jamaica on Wednesday and the Cayman Islands on Thursday.
Additional weakening is expected thereafter, though Beryl is forecast to remain a hurricane in the northwestern Caribbean.
The storm surge from Beryl could raise water levels by as much as 5 to 8 feet above normal tide levels in areas of onshore winds along
the immediate coast of Jamaica.
The system is not expected to impact Florida.
