At 800 AM AST (1200 UTC), the eye of Hurricane Beryl was located
near latitude 15.0 North, longitude 67.9 West. Beryl is moving
toward the west-northwest near 22 mph (35 km/h) and is forecast to
continue moving rapidly west-northwestward during the next couple of
days and turn westward by Thursday. On the forecast track, the
center of Beryl will move quickly across the southeastern and
central Caribbean Sea today and is forecast to pass near Jamaica on
Wednesday and the Cayman Islands on Thursday.
Reports from NOAA and Air Force Reserve Hurricane Hunter aircraft
indicate that maximum sustained winds remain near 165 mph (270 km/h)
with higher gusts. Beryl is a category 5 hurricane on the
Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale. Weakening should begin later
today, but Beryl is still expected to be near major hurricane
intensity as it moves into the central Caribbean and passes near
Jamaica on Wednesday and the Cayman Islands on Thursday.
Additional weakening is expected thereafter, though Beryl is
forecast to remain a hurricane in the northwestern Caribbean.
Hurricane-force winds extend outward up to 40 miles (65 km) from
the center and tropical-storm-force winds extend outward up to 125
miles (205 km). NOAA buoy 42059 to the north of the eye recently
reported sustained winds of 72 mph (115 km/h) and a wind gust of
94 mph (151 km/h).
The minimum central pressure estimated from the Hurricane Hunter
aircraft data is 934 mb (27.58 inches).
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