Hurricane Beryl becomes earliest category 5 on record

Hurricane Beryl continues to shatter records as it tracks across the Caribbean Sea. Overnight, NOAA's Hurricane Hunters found that Beryl’s max sustained winds have increased to 165 mph, making the storm a category 5 hurricane on the Saffir Simpson scale. 

This is now the earliest category 5 on record, surpassing Hurricane Emily which reached category 5 strength on July 17th, 2005. 

Current forecast from the National Hurricane Center shows Beryl gradually weaken as it encounters higher wind shear across the Caribbean. 

The entire Island of Jamaica has been placed under a hurricane warning while the southern shores of the Dominican Republic has been placed under a Tropical Storm Warning. Where Beryl goes from there is still up in the air, though she will still have to be monitored for a potential landfall in Mexico or in extreme southern Texas.