“Her death is celebrated” – NBC 6 South Florida

Bestial Beryl. How much do I hate you? Let me list the reasons why.

I’ll start with what you did in June. You were the easternmost hurricane to form in the Atlantic in June, beating the old record set by the Trinidad hurricane of 1933 by an incredible 660 miles of open ocean.

You also jumped to the top of the historical charts by being the strongest hurricane in terms of wind speed on record in June, surpassing Hurricane Audrey in 1957. Then, also in June, you were the earliest Category 4 hurricane ever recorded in the Atlantic basin.

All of those notorious June successes were made possible by rapid intensification, the process by which a storm like you can gain strength quickly due to the warm waters beneath it. And are they always this warm? Record-breaking hot, in fact. In your case, Beryl, you were the first June system ever to undergo rapid intensification in the open Atlantic east of the Caribbean, the area known as the prime development area.

In July – and I realize the month is only four days old – you outdid yourself.

First, they hit Carriacou, one of the Grenadine islands between Grenada and St. Vincent in the Windward Islands, as a Category 4 hurricane. They were the strongest hurricane to hit so far south in the Windward Islands, no matter what month! People died because of them. 90% of the houses on the small island of 8,000 inhabitants were damaged.

Then they peaked as a Category 5 storm with winds of 265 km/h (thankfully) over the open Caribbean Sea, far from land. But that’s also a record for the earliest Category 5 storm. They no doubt fed on the exceptionally hot waters that have brought chronic heat waves to the Antilles since last year.

Then yesterday you were finally hit by a high-altitude wind shear. You lost some of your strength and your vision became blurred. And yet your remarkable resilience kept you at Category 4 intensity as you drove along the south coast of Jamaica, with sustained winds of 225 km/h and possible gusts of nearly 320 km/h on slopes and mountaintops.

Now you’re on your way to Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula. I’ll be lucky if your hurricane’s strength falls below that of the National Hurricane Center (NHC). This part of Mexico is used to strong hurricanes, but for people living on very basic resources, it’s never easy to weather storms like yours.

And since you’re so damn bold, you probably won’t be done after Yucatan. The Gulf of Mexico awaits, and, wait, a possible turn toward the USA?! NHC already has its “cone” over parts of Texas thanks to you. I can only hope you show your age by then.

Your death will be celebrated. As will the death of your name, which will undoubtedly disappear from the list of names of Atlantic tropical storms after appearing every 6 years since the 1980s.

Beryl, I can only hope that all the records you set will last forever. But given how much we have already changed our climate, I don’t have great expectations.