World
By Cara Tabachnick, Emily Mae Czachor
/ CBS News
Tropical Storm Berylentered the Gulf of Mexico Friday night after making landfall early in the day as a hurricane on Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula before weakening, and was on a path that will likely bring it to Texas early next week, the National Hurricane Center in Miami said.
Beryl was forecast to strengthen while moving over the Gulf of Mexico and was expected to regain hurricane status by Sunday. It is expected to approach 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.
"A turn to the northwest is expected later on Saturday, with the center of Beryl expected to approach the coast of northeastern Mexico and Texas Sunday and Sunday night," the hurricane center said.
Parts of northeastern Mexico and the lower and middle Texas coast were at risk of seeing hurricane-force winds and life-threatening storm surge late Sunday and Monday, according to the center.
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.
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Cara Tabachnick
Cara Tabachnick is a news editor at CBSNews.com. Cara began her career on the crime beat at Newsday. She has written for Marie Claire, The Washington Post and The Wall Street Journal. She reports on justice and human rights issues. Contact her at cara.tabachnick@cbsinteractive.com