Riviera Maya, Q.R. — Cancun and Riviera Maya could be out of the woods as Hurricane Beryl heads south. Updated trajectories show the center of the storm likely making landfall near Chetumal.
Those predicted trajectories are still at least 24 hours away from any final forecast as to exactly where Beryl will land. Most trajectories, however, have Cancun positioned out of Beryl’s potential cone.
On Sunday, trajectories predicted Beryl to make landfall around the Sian Ka’an Biosphere south of Tulum, however, those trajectories now have Beryl moved even further south. The southern movement is likely due to wind sheer.
According to The Weather Channel, “typically this time of year, Caribbean wind shear is strong enough to weaken or completely fizzle tropical systems approaching from the east. However, model forecasts have hinted that wind shear could be lower than usual, which could allow Beryl to maintain its hurricane intensity longer in the western Caribbean Sea later this week,” they explained.
Quintana Roo State Civil Protection issued a Blue Alert Sunday, minimal danger, for the state of Quintana Roo regarding Hurricane Beryl. That alert status has not yet changed. As of Monday morning, Hurricane Beryl was approximately 3,000 kilometers southeast of the state.
Despite the Blue Alert, local hardware stores were busy with storm purchases Sunday. Homeowners, not taking any chances, rushed to large hardware stores where long lines of plywood buyers stood. While Hurricane Beryl may not make direct landfall on Quintana Roo coasts, their purchases may not be in vain.
Photo: June 30, 2024.
According to the National Hurricane Centre, another system is following along the same trajectory as current Hurricane Beryl and has a 70 percent chance of development within the next week.
“System AL96 continues to produce showers and thunderstorms in association with an area of low pressure located about 1000 miles west-southwest of the Cabo Verde Islands. Environmental conditions appear conducive for additional development of this system, and a tropical depression is likely to form by the middle part of this week while it moves generally westward at 15 to 20 mph across the central and western tropical Atlantic. Interests in the Lesser Antilles should monitor the progress of this system. Formation chance through 7 days…high…70 percent.”
Quintana Roo Civil Protection (Coordinación Estatal de Protección Civil QRoo) will continue to provide official updates on Hurricane Beryl.
On Monday morning the State Agency reported “based on the information issued by the National Hurricane Center of Miami and disseminated by the National Meteorological Service on monitoring and surveillance for the Atlantic Ocean, Caribbean Sea and Gulf of Mexico, Beryl has intensified again to a category 4 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson scale.
“Its center is located 100 km east of Granada and 2,945 km east-southeast of Cancún. It has maximum sustained winds of 215 km/h and gusts of 260 km/h and movement towards the west-northwest at 31 km/h. Its development and trajectory are being monitored. At the moment it does not represent a danger to the coasts of Quintana Roo. Any significant changes will be reported.”
