Hurricane Beryl (2024) (Blackford)

Hurricane Beryl was the strongest hurricane ever recorded in the month of June. The second named storm, first hurricane and first major hurricane of the record-breaking 2024 Atlantic hurricane season, Beryl caused extreme impacts in the Main Development Region before it ultimately struck the Yucatan on June 26 as a Category 4 hurricane.

Upwards of 1,000 were killed as the storm passed just south of Hispaniola at peak intensity on June 23, while 71 were killed in The Yucatan. The remainder were killed when it made landfall as a Category 3 major hurricane in Louisiana.

It remains the only Category 4+ hurricane ever recorded in the month of June, peaking as a minimal Category 5 on June 23 and 26.

Meteorological history
On June 9, the NHC began monitoring a tropical wave off the coast of Africa for the possibility of rapid development in mid-June. By June 13, it had attained a centralized circulation and was classified as Tropical Depression Two the following day, roughly a thousand miles east of the Windward Islands.

On June 15, the storm was moving westward at 20 mph and became Tropical Storm Beryl. However, it struggled to organize in the mid-June air and began to weaken back to a tropical depression thereafter.

On June 17, the storm re-intensified into a tropical storm as it neared the Windward Islands, and began to undergo rapid deepening after that.

It became a major hurricane on June 18, and peaked just below Category 4 strength before it underwent a eyewall replacement cycle on June 19.

The storm struck the Windward Islands early on June 19 as a minimal major hurricane, causing major impacts. It then weakened to a Category 1 hurricane. The storm began to re-intensify on June 22 as it moved south of Hispaniola, intensifying from a 75 mph Category 1 hurricane to a 160 mph Category 5 hurricane in just 16 hours, a 85 mph intensification, a near record for the Atlantic. It reached peak intensity around noon on June 23 as it became a minimal Category 5 major hurricane with a pressure of 918 mbar.

Late that evening, the storm weakened to a 145 mph Category 4 major hurricane as it began to undergo a eyewall replacement cycle. It further weakened, briefly dipping below major hurricane status on June 24. It then underwent rapid intensification over June 24-26.

It attained a second peak as a minimal Category 5 hurricane early on June 26 before it started to weaken. It made landfall later that day as a 155 mph Category 4 major hurricane in The Yucatan, the most intense landfall the Atlantic basin had ever seen in the month of June.

The storm from there underwent rapid weakening once inland, and moved offshore on June 27 as a weak tropical storm, however it underwent rapid deepening that afternoon.

It made landfall on June 29 in Louisiana as a 115 mph Category 3 major hurricane, and maintained it's intensity briefly once inland. After that, it underwent rapid weakening and accelerated northeastward, briefly moving northeast at 72 mph, a global record forward speed for a tropical cyclone.

It became a remnant low on June 30 once inland, and diminished on July 1.

Records
The storm holds the record as the fastest-moving tropical cyclone in recorded history, moving northeast at 72 mph briefly on June 29-30 once inland.

It also holds the record as the most intense Atlantic hurricane during the month of June on record, peaking with a minimum central pressure of 918 mbar and maximum winds of 160 mph on June 23, making it a minimal Category 5 major hurricane.

It had a ACE of 36.248% and a Hurricane Severity Index of 33.

Retirement
Due to the "absolute devastation" and high death toll caused by Beryl, the WMO retired it in Spring 2025, the name Beryl will never again be used for a Atlantic hurricane.

It was replaced with the name Barley for use in the 2030 Atlantic hurricane season.