Hurricane Beryl weakened slightly to a Category 4 storm Tuesday — from the monstrous Category 5 it became overnight — as it moved deeper into the Caribbean Sea, centering on Jamaica and prompting warnings and advisories across Haiti, the Dominican Republic and the Cayman Islands.
Beryl made landfall on the island of Carriacou in Grenada as a Category 4 on Monday with winds of 150 mph, causing at least three deaths and devastating Grenada and St. Vincent and the Grenadines. The storm then regained strength over the Caribbean Sea and by Monday night became the first Category 5 hurricane on record.
The National Hurricane Center said in its 2 p.m. ET advisory that Beryl had maximum sustained winds of 155 mph — just 2 mph below the Category 5 threshold and down from 165 mph earlier in the day. Beryl, however, will remain a powerful hurricane as it moves westward this week, forecasters said.
On Wednesday, Beryl “is expected to bring life-threatening winds and storm surge to Jamaica,” the NHC said. As Beryl passes over or near Jamaica, its winds are expected to diminish, but the storm will remain dangerous. The hurricane center is forecasting 4 to 8 inches of rain and up to 12 inches in isolated locations in Jamaica and the Barahona Peninsula in the southwestern Dominican Republic, which could lead to flash flooding.
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