Tropical Storm Beryl Forms and Could Become First Hurricane of the Season

A storm system roughly 1,110 miles southeast of Barbados strengthened into a tropical storm late on Friday, gaining the name Beryl and growing closer to becoming the first hurricane of the 2024 Atlantic hurricane season, forecasters said.The tropical storm, headed west toward the Caribbean, was expected to grow into a hurricane as early as Sunday night as it approaches the Windward Islands, southeast of Puerto Rico and north of Venezuela.As of 10:40 p.m.Eastern on Friday, the National Hurricane Center estimated the storm had sustained winds of 40 miles per hour, gusting even higher.The system became a tropical storm when its sustained winds reached 39 m.p.h.

At 74 m.p.h., a storm becomes a hurricane.A named storm this far east in the Atlantic is unusual for June, John Cangialosi, a forecaster with the National Hurricane Center, wrote in an advisory Friday.“There have only been a few storms in history that have formed over the central or eastern tropical Atlantic this early in the year,” he wrote.Here are key things to know about the storm.The storm is expected to cross the islands of the eastern Caribbean as early as Sunday night before traversing the central Caribbean Sea through the middle of next week.Three to six inches of rain, hurricane-force winds and dangerous storm surge are possible in the eastern Caribbean Islands, including Barbados, and St.Vincent and the Grenadines Sunday into Monday.There is a fair amount of uncertainty in the forecast about the track the storm will take, especially beyond three days.Typically a June storm in this part of the Atlantic wouldn’t intensify into a hurricane, but the conditions in the atmosphere appear to support gradual strengthening, Mr.

Cangialosi said.Some computer weather models suggest the storm could intensify into a major hurricane, which is a Category 3 or higher.This hurricane season is expected to be busy.Forecasters have warned that the 2024 Atlantic hurricane season could be much more active than usual...