Beryl maps show path and landfall forecast of tropical storm that could become a hurricane again (2024)

Tropical Storm Berylentered the Gulf of Mexico Friday night after making landfall early in the day as a hurricane on Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula. Now, Beryl is expected to regain hurricane strength Saturday before aiming at northeastern Mexico and the southern Texas Gulf Coast Sunday night.

The storm blew past the Cayman Islands and Jamaica earlier in the week, initially making landfall Monday over the island of Carriacou in Grenada while tearing through the Caribbean, strengthening at times to a Category 5 hurricane — thestrongest rating.

What is Beryl's projected path?

The hurricane center said Friday's landfall was just northeast of the resort town of Tulum. After passing over the Yucatan, Beryl had entered the Gulf of Mexico Friday night. The U.S. National Hurricane Center predicted late Friday that Beryl would intensify on Saturday before making landfall, prompting expanded hurricane and storm surge watches.

"There is an increasing risk of damaging hurricane-force winds and life-threatening storm surge in portions of northeastern Mexico and the lower and middle Texas coast late Sunday and Monday," the center warned.

National Hurricane Center senior specialist Jack Beven said Beryl is likely to make landfall somewhere between Brownsville and a bit north of Corpus Christi Monday. The hurricane center forecasts it will hit as a strong Category 1 storm, but wrote "this could be conservative if Beryl stays over water longer" than expected.

The waters in the Gulf of Mexico are warm enough for the early-season storm to rapidly intensify, as it has several times before.

"We should not be surprised if this is rapidly intensifying before landfall and it could become a major hurricane," said Weather Underground co-founder Jeff Masters, a former government hurricane meteorologist who flew into storms. "Category 2 may be more likely, but we should not dismiss a Category 3 possibility."

Beven said the official forecast has Beryl gaining 17 to 23 mph in wind speed in 24 hours, but noted the storm intensified more rapidly than forecasters expected earlier in the Caribbean.

"People in southern Texas now need to really keep an eye on the progress of Beryl," Beven said.

CBS News Texas chief meteorologist Scott Padgett said its possible Beryl will make landfall near South Padre Island on Texas' southern coast. The storm was then expected to move into the northern part of the state later in the week, Padgett said.

"Depending on the path of Beryl, some spots of North Texas may see up to 7 inches of rain," Padgett said.

As of late Friday night, Beryl was 615 miles southeast of Corpus Christi, Texas. It was traveling northwest at 13 mph with maximum sustained winds of 60 mph, making it a tropical storm, but Beryl was expected to re-intensify from the warm waters of the Gulf of Mexico.

A hurricane watch was in effect for the Texas coast from the mouth of the Rio Grande northward to San Luis Pass, just south of Houston, and for Mexico's northeastern coast from Barra el Mezquital to the mouth of the Rio Grande.

Where is Beryl bringing rain and flooding?

Hurricane conditions were possible along the western Gulf Coast by late Sunday, according to the hurricane center.

"Heavy rainfall of 5 to 10 inches with localized amounts of 15 inches is expected across portions of the Texas Gulf Coast and eastern Texas beginning late Sunday through the middle of next week. This rainfall is expected to produce areas of flash and urban flooding," the center said.

Beryl became thefirst hurricaneof the 2024Atlantic hurricane seasonon Saturday and rapidly strengthened. It first reached Category 4 on Sunday, wavering back to Category 3 before returning to Category 4 on Monday and then becoming a Category 5 later Monday night. It is the first major hurricane east of the Lesser Antilles on record for June, according to Philip Klotzbach, Colorado State University hurricane researcher.

Brian McNoldy, a tropical meteorology researcher for the University of Miami, told The Associated Press warm waters fueled Beryl, with ocean heat content in the deep Atlantic the highest on record for this time of year.

Beryl has also set recordsas the first June hurricane ever to hit Category 4, the farthest east a storm has ever hit Category 4, and the first storm before September to go from tropical depression to major hurricane in under 48 hours, CBS News weather producer David Parkinson reported.

Beryl was also the earliest Category 5 hurricane ever recorded in the Atlantic basin and was only the second Category 5 storm recorded in July since 2005, according to the hurricane center.

Brian Dakss, Alex Sundby and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

In:
• Caribbean
• Hurricane