Beryl: From Hurricane to Historic Post-Tropical Cyclone
After captivating meteorologists and wrecking havoc across land and sea, Hurricane Beryl is finally winding down. From its birth on June 28 to its dissipation into a post-tropical cyclone, this storm has left a mark on the Atlantic, the Caribbean, and beyond.
This exceptionally long-lived system has traveled over 6,000 miles, making three destructive landfalls along the way. It set records as it ripped through the Bay of Campeche and Gulf of Mexico, leaving more than 1 million Houston-area customers in the dark and sparking tornadoes and flooding across the Mississippi, Ohio valleys, and the Northeast.
Grenada bore the brunt of Beryl’s wrath, with a devastating Category 4 strike followed quickly by an upgrade to Category 5 intensity. The storm’s journey was marked by intensity and destruction, making history along the way.
Let’s take a look back at Beryl’s remarkable journey, from its humble beginnings as a tropical wave over the eastern tropical Atlantic to its final breath as a post-tropical low-pressure system in Canada.
Sixteen days ago, the first National Hurricane Center outlook identified the disturbance that would become Beryl. Thirteen days ago, it became a named storm and began its menacing path towards the Lesser Antilles. Within hours, it evolved into a Category 1 hurricane, setting off warnings across the Caribbean.
The storm reached its peak as an “extremely dangerous Category 4 hurricane” with maximum sustained winds of 130 mph, breaking records along the way. From Grenada to Jamaica, the Cayman Islands to Mexico, Beryl wreaked havoc wherever it went.
As it dissipated into a post-tropical low-pressure system northeast of Lake Ontario, Beryl’s legacy remains etched in the memories of those who witnessed its historic march across the Atlantic and beyond.
