New imagery reveals the impressive 2,000-mile journey of Hurricane Beryl, from its formation in the Atlantic Ocean to its landfall in Mexico. The University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Cooperative Institute for Meteorological Satellite Studies has developed innovative imagery that tracks a storm’s center, known as the eye, using a combination of components.
The eye of a hurricane is formed by a cluster of powerful winds called the eyewall. These winds rotate so rapidly that they create a calm center within the storm, known as the eye. This unique imagery allows researchers to monitor the storm's health by observing changes in the eye over time.
As depicted in the imagery, Hurricane Beryl's eye expands and becomes more circular as it moves through the Grenadines and the eastern Caribbean Sea, indicating a significant increase in strength. Beryl achieved the distinction of becoming the earliest Category 5 hurricane on record shortly after passing through the Grenadines.
Even as Beryl approaches Jamaica as a Category 4 hurricane, it maintains a well-defined, circular eye. However, as the storm nears Mexico's Yucatán Peninsula, the eye begins to shrink and take on an elliptical shape, signaling a weakening of the storm. Despite making landfall in Mexico as a Category 2 hurricane, Beryl rapidly loses intensity over land and is downgraded to a Category 1 storm by late Monday morning.
