Hurricane Beryl weakens to Cat 3, sets sight at Cayman Islands

Hurricane Beryl has now downgraded to a Category 3 storm and is forecasted to pass near the Cayman Islands today after leaving its wrath on Jamaica yesterday.

According to the experts, Beryl did not make landfall in Jamaica; however, it came very close to the coast, which is why it left major impacts in some parts of the island.

As of now, the storm is moving away from Jamaica and is headed towards Cayman Islands with the hurricane carrying maximum sustained winds of 120 mph and moving towards the west at 20 mph.

Also, Hurricane warnings have been canceled for Jamaica and are now in effect for the Cayman Islands. The threat of damaging waves, hurricane-force winds, and life-threatening storm surges continues for both the islands.

The National Hurricane Center said that hurricane watches and tropical storm warnings are also in effect for other parts of the Yucatan Peninsula, including Cozumel.

The NHC has warned of severe impacts which includes up to half a foot of rain in the Cayman Islands and dangerous surf conditions in western Cuba, Belize and Yucatan Peninsula.

After retreating from the island of Jamaica, Hurricane Beryl is set to pass just south of the Caymans overnight and is said to bring life threatening winds, storm surge as well as heavy rainfall.

In addition to this, there is still an uncertainty in the track and intensity of the Beryl over the western gulf of Mexico over the weekend but a major weakness in a high pressure ridge might enable the storm to push east towards southeast Texas.

While the storm is forecasted to weaken considerably before it reaches the western gulf coast while still being a hurricane, the good news is that it’ll bring MUCH needed rainfall to the region. In fact, once it gets picked up in the trough, it could bring much more widespread rain to central and north Texas as well.