Hurricane Beryl remains a Cat 4 storm as it moves through the Central Caribbean

The Weather Authority is tracking Hurricane Beryl as it continues to travel west in the Central Caribbean after devastating the Windward Islands.

According to the 8 p.m. National Hurricane Center Tuesday update, Hurricane Beryl remains a Category 4 storm with sustained winds of 150 mph.

Beryl is currently moving west-northwest near 22 mph, with this general motion expected to continue through Wednesday.

The center of Beryl will move quickly across the central Caribbean Sea on Tuesday and
is forecast to pass near Jamaica on Wednesday and the Cayman Islands on Thursday.

The center is forecast to approach the Yucatan Peninsula of Mexico and Belize by Thursday night through Friday.

It reached Category 5 status late Monday night.

Beryl is forecast to remain quite strong as it moves westward through the Central Caribbean.

Tropical storm warnings are in effect for Haiti and parts of the Dominican Republic, and hurricane warnings are in effect for Jamaica.

Hurricane Beryl is forecast to weaken slightly over the next 24 hours and impact Jamaica as a strong Category 3 hurricane on Wednesday afternoon and evening.

According to The Weather Authority Meteorologist Zach Maloch, “Regardless of Beryl’s strength and size, all impacts from the system will stay south and away from Southwest Florida.”

Hurricane Beryl is forecast to weaken over the next five days as wind shear increases across the western Caribbean.

Regardless of the weakening, Beryl looks to bring a lot of rain and wind to the Yucatan Peninsula this weekend and potentially Mexico/South Texas early next week.

Following Beryl are disorganized showers and thunderstorms designated as Invest 96L that will remain limited in association with an area of low pressure located several hundred miles east-southeast of the Windward Islands.

Environmental conditions are only marginally conducive for additional development of this system while it moves generally westward at 15 to 20 mph across the central and western tropical Atlantic.

There is currently a 20% chance of further development over the next seven days.