As of 11am Friday, Beryl remains a category 1 hurricane with winds of 80 mph. It’s an incredibly small storm, with hurricane-force winds only extending out about 10 miles from the center and tropical storm-force winds extending out about 35 miles.

Beryl is a little more than 1000 miles east-southeast of the Lesser Antilles and will continue on a west-northwest track over the next 72 hours. Hurricane watches could go into effect for parts of the Lesser Antilles as early as Friday night. Current intensity forecast from the National Hurricane Center (NHC) has Beryl strengthening into a category 2 hurricane before moving into the Caribbean and weakening.

As Beryl enters the Caribbean it will begin to encounter high amounts of wind shear which should weaken the system dramatically, if not completely tear it apart. Still, interests in the northern Caribbean, such as Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic, should monitor the progress of the storm closely. At the very least, some gusty winds and tropical downpours will impact those areas early next week. At this time, Beryl poses no threat to the United States mainland.

Elsewhere, in the Atlantic… Showers and thunderstorms are increasing in association with a well-defined area of low pressure a few hundred miles southeast of the North Carolina coast. NHC currently has the chance of tropical depression forming over the next 2 days at 70%. Should this become a tropical storm, it would get the name ‘Chris’. This disturbance will likely meander off the coast off the Carolinas for the next few days kicking up dangerous rip currents for beach-goers. Interests in these areas should monitor the progress of this unsettled area of weather closely.