Hurricane Beryl is breaking records

 

Category 5 Hurricane Beryl (Source: NOAA)

Regardless of what the final statistics on Hurricane Beryl are, it has already broken a slew of tropical records for the Atlantic Ocean Basin. Beryl was the strongest June hurricane on record and first Category 4 hurricane. It also became the strongest hurricane to develop prior to August 1.

Beryl, at peak intensity, was a Category 5 storm with sustained winds of 165 mph and a minimum central air pressure of 934 mb. When it reached Category 5 status on July 2, it became the earliest Category 5 Atlantic hurricane, breaking Hurricane Emily's 2005 record by more than two weeks. When Beryl first reached Category 4 status on June 30, it broke another 2005 record for earliest Category 4 storm, previously held by Hurricane Dennis (July 8).

Hurricane Beryl intensified rapidly due to ideal environmental conditions with little to no wind shear and unusually warm sea surface temperatures. That's largely why NOAA scientists are expecting such an active 2024 Atlantic hurricane season.

Unlike this season and 2005 that saw major hurricanes in June and July was the 2020 season. Although the 2020 season finished with a record 30 named storms, the first "major" hurricane didn't develop until Hurricane Laura reached Category 3 status on August 26. That's almost two months later than when Hurricane Beryl became a major hurricane this season.