Will Record-Breaking Beryl Serve as a Harbinger of Things to Come?

Now that Beryl is in the rearview mirror, it is time to reflect on this monster storm and what it may mean for the rest of the 2024 Atlantic hurricane season. Here is a look at what the experts are saying about what Beryl is telling us about the months ahead.

Record-Breaking Beryl

What was once a Category 5 hurricane, Beryl was proven to be a record-breaking storm in numerous aspects. Beryl is distinguished as being the earliest Category 4 and Category 5 hurricane to form in the Atlantic basin when it reached this status on July 1. Beryl broke the record of a Category 4 storm previously held by Hurricane Dennis achieving this status on July 8, 2005. Beryl then smashed the previous record of the earliest Category 5 storm, held by 2005's Hurricane Emily.

Beryl also became the third earliest major hurricane recorded in the Atlantic Ocean. A major hurricane is defined as a Category 3 storm or higher. One storm in June of 1966 and one in June of 1957 beat out Beryl for this milestone.

Lastly, Hurricane Beryl is one of the earliest storms on the record books to go through the process of rapid intensification. Beryl gained wind speeds of 65 mph in a period of 24 hours on June 29 and June 30. The speeds increased 95 mph when stretching the time period out to 42.5 hours.