Hurricane Beryl re-intensifies to a Category 4 as it closes in on the Windward Islands

After briefly dipping into Category 3 strength, Hurricane Beryl re-intensified into a Category 4 storm as it approached the Windward Islands Monday morning.

The historic early-season whopper of a storm is expected to bring up to nine feet of storm surge, double-digit rain and sustained winds topping 130 mph through Monday, prompting hurricane watches and warnings for the islands as well as government shutdowns in Barbados and St. Lucia.

As of the 8 a.m. update from the National Hurricane Center, Beryl was about 70 miles east of Grenada, heading west-northwest at 20 mph with sustained winds near 130 mph.

Early Monday, hurricane hunter planes swooped over the roiling storm and found it in the final stages of an eyewall replacement cycle, where a bigger, stronger eye emerges and dwarfs the previous one. Storms typically weaken a bit during the replacement cycle but emerge stronger on the other side, as Beryl did.

Overnight, during the replacement cycle, the slightly weakened Beryl grew its wind field substantially, increasing its reach for storm surge and wind effects in the Windward Islands. As of 8 a.m., tropical-storm-force winds extended out 35 miles from the center, and hurricane-force winds extended out up to 125 miles.

In the 5 a.m. discussion, forecasters noted that Beryl was about to encounter an area of low wind shear, which, combined with the higher-than-usual sea surface temperatures nearby, aided its explosion of growth back to a Category 4 storm.

Over the weekend, Beryl surpassed expectations and rapidly intensified into the first major hurricane of the season in the abnormally hot Atlantic. Beryl is now the earliest Category 4 storm to form in the Atlantic, beating out a record from Hurricane Dennis set on July 8, 2005, a notably intense year for storms.

Grenada Prime Minister Dickon Mitchell said they have received various reports of rainfall but so far no major reports of damage as of 7 a.m. as Beryl barreled across the Caribbean.

“I’m thankful for that. It means so far our prayers have been answered but the next eight hours are absolutely critical,” he said. “We expect significant rainfall, we expect significant wind gusts and we expect significant storm surges.”

Mitchell emphasized that the state of emergency, which went into effect Sunday evening, remains in place.

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