Hurricane Beryl was a fast-moving and long-lived tropical cyclone that formed in the main development region. The second named storm and first hurricane of the 2018 Atlantic hurricane season, Beryl formed from a vigorous tropical wave that moved off the west coast of Africa on July 1. The wave quickly organized into a tropical depression over the central Atlantic Ocean on July 4. Rapid intensification took place and the depression quickly became a tropical storm at 00:00 UTC the next day. Just less than 15 hours later, on July 6, Beryl strengthened into the first hurricane of the season, reaching its peak intensity on July 6. Increasingly unfavorable conditions caused a rapid deterioration of the cyclone shortly after its peak, with Beryl falling to tropical storm status on the next day, as it began to accelerate towards the Caribbean. Late on July 8, it degenerated into a tropical wave shortly before reaching the Lesser Antilles. The remnants were monitored for several days, although they failed to organize significantly until July 14, when it regenerated into a subtropical storm, six days after it lost tropical characteristics. However, the newly reformed storm quickly lost convection, and it degenerated into a remnant low early on July 16, while situated over the Gulf Stream. Beryl subsequently dissipated on the next day.
Many places in Beryl's track were still recovering from hurricanes Irma and Maria, which hit the Eastern Caribbean in September 2017; structures were let deficient to strong winds. Beryl prompted multiple islands in the Lesser Antilles to issue warnings and watches, including a hurricane watch as it was initially expected to pass through the islands of Dominica and Guadeloupe as a hurricane. The storm weakened faster than expected and Beryl degenerated into a tropical wave before it reached the islands, though minimal effects were still felt across the eastern Caribbean. Beryl's remnants caused flash flooding and landslides across the island of Puerto Rico, and several people were trapped in their houses by floodwaters; approximately 47,000 lost power on the island. In the Dominican Republic, of rain caused rivers to overflow, and more than 130,000 customers lost power. Minor impacts were reported in the Lucayan Archipelago, Bermuda, and Atlantic Canada. Overall damage was estimated to be in the millions, and no fatalities were reported.
Meteorological history
A vigorous tropical wave with a large amount of convection, or thunderstorms, moved off the coast of Africa on July 1. However, most of the convective activity diminished as it moved west-southwestwards. Late on July 3, the NHC began tracking this disturbance while it was over the eastern tropical Atlantic for tropical cyclogenesis. The wave quickly organized over the next two days, with a concentrated area of thunderstorms over the low-level center and rainbands developing over the southern side of the disturbance. At 12:00 UTC on July 4, the wave organized into a tropical depression about 1,500 miles (1,300 nautical miles) west-southwest of the Cape Verde Islands. At 00:00 UTC on July 5, the depression strengthened into Tropical Storm Beryl while located at ; this was farther southeast than any other Atlantic cyclone on record so early in the calendar year. Due to its very small size, Beryl was prone to very quick changes in intensity, as the storm's tiny inner core could quickly spin up or spin down, depending on the atmospheric conditions. A mid-level eye becoming apparent as the system was consolidating on July 5. Despite relatively cool waters, Beryl began a period of rapid intensification late on July 5. The storm developed a pinhole eye under a central dense overcast. Beryl strengthened into a hurricane at 06:00 UTC on July 6, becoming the third-earliest hurricane to form in the tropical Atlantic Ocean, behind the 1933 Trinidad hurricane and Hurricane Elsa of 2021, and the easternmost Atlantic hurricane to form from a tropical wave prior to the month of August since reliable records began in 1850. Simultaneously, the small cyclone's pinhole eye became visible.