2024 Atlantic hurricane season starts off with earliest category 4 hurricane ever

The 2024 Atlantic hurricane season is off to a very impressive start. Hurricane Beryl became a hurricane on Saturday, but rapidly intensified to a category four storm on Sunday, June 30.

This is the first category four hurricane on record in the month of June. It also is the easternmost hurricane to ever develop in June, as hurricanes typically form near the Gulf of Mexico this early in the season, and not this far east.

Hurricane Dennis was the earliest category four storm previously, which was on July 8 in 2005. 2005 was also a very active hurricane season, most notably with Hurricane Katrina.

Hurricane Beryl will impact the Windward Islands tonight into Monday morning as a major hurricane before moving south of Cuba by Wednesday but weakening to a category two storm according to the National Hurricane Center.

The current forecast has it approaching the Yucatan Peninsula of Mexico as a weak hurricane or tropical storm later this week. It is still unclear whether or not this storm enters the Gulf of Mexico and if it will impact the United States at all.

This is likely the first of many hurricanes expected this hurricane season. NOAA is predicting an above normal hurricane season due to the development of La Nina in the Pacific Ocean and warmer than average Atlantic Ocean temperatures.

NOAA is forecasting 17-25 named storms, 8-13 of those being hurricanes, and 4-7 of those being major- at least a category three. The peak of hurricane season climatologically is early to mid-September, so it looks like this hurricane season may be very active.