Crashing through the southeastern Caribbean on Monday night, Hurricane Beryl hit sustained wind speeds of 160 mph, promoting it to a Category 5 hurricane, beating the previous record for earliest-declared Cat 5 storm by two weeks, USA Today reports. Beryl will sustain much of its energy as it travels westerly toward Jamaica, after which it will steadily lose power
The previous record-holder, 2005’s Hurricane Emily, was declared a Category 5 on July 17, 2005. Beryl became the earliest Category 4 hurricane on record and the first one declared a Cat 4 in June east of the Greater Antilles.