Hurricane Beryl: terrifying statistics

Yesterday, Beryl was just a tropical storm; today it is a Cat 4 beast!

The multiple news are describing hurricane Beryl as having rewritten the history book of records.

Here is one from Axios providing the most horrifying details about this hurricane breaking records:

“Stunning stat: “Hurricane Beryl took just 42 hours to go from a tropical depression to a Category 3 storm,” according to meteorologist Sam Lillo. “This has been done 6 other times in Atlantic hurricane history. And the EARLIEST date this was achieved before was … September 1,” he posted on X.”

Andrew Freedman, Axios, “Hurricane Beryl rewrites hurricane history, to slam Windward Islands”, 6/30/2024

“The big picture: Its formation so far east, in what’s known as the “Main Development Region” of the tropical Atlantic, this early in the season broke a record first set in 1933.”

Ibid.

“It also became the first major hurricane at such an eastern location so early in the season.”

“Hurricane Beryl is now the earliest Category 4 storm to form anywhere in the Atlantic Ocean, beating the old record by more than a week.”

Ibid.

“It is also the strongest June Atlantic hurricane on record.”

Ibid.

“How it works: Studies shown that climate change is raising the likelihood that tropical storms and hurricanes will rapidly intensify, compared to several decades ago, and make larger leaps in intensity as well.”

“Such an intensity jump this early in the season, and east of the Windwards, is nearly unheard of, however.”

Ibid.

“Context: The record warm North Atlantic is part of a global spike in ocean temperatures that has gone on for more than a year and is in large part due to human-caused climate change.”

“While 2023 was the planet’s warmest on record, so far, 2024 is running event hotter worldwide.”

Ibid.

So, it is just one superlative after another.

Because monthly global average temperatures have been topping records for basically 13 months in a row, the waters are extremely warm and are a rich energy source for these storms. The presence of warmer waters than usual drives a more rapid intensification of storms (the 42 hours intensification from tropical storm to Cat 3 is one example). On top of that intensification, warmer air holds more water so when it rains, it is a deluge. More Harveys are likely.

Although this article doesn’t mention it, I have also read that the warming climate means storms move more slowly which gives another opportunity to dump more rain in an area, like those training rainstorms that occurred with Harvey. The storm moved so slowly that bands of rain kept training over the Southeast coast of Texas and over the western edge of Louisiana.

The weather forecasters had said that Texas was going to have an “explosive” season. Well, the hurricane season sure is starting out in an explosive fashion with all of its records in one early hurricane, in June, when typically, these terrifying hurricanes occur in August or September. So, this is early.

I guess these early terrifying monsters are now normal, but my brain is just not accepting it.

I don’t think the US is ready for these extreme weather events. We’ve already had a dam in Minnesota either fail or is in danger of failing. There is another dam watch down in Texas which Beryl could exacerbate.

No, we are not ready for this.

And still, the fossil fuel industry doesn’t appear to be trying to do anything. I’m not sure. At least the climate deniers are quiet; right now, they don’t have a leg to stand on, so they don’t have any argument to provide. They never did.