Hurricane Beryl, already a record-breaker, strengthened to category 5 overnight. The storm's 160mph winds are swirling their way through the Caribbean on their way toward the continent; it's expected to weaken from here.
Beryl becomes the earliest Category 5 hurricane on record, beating Hurricane Emily from July 16, 2005.
That year went on to be the second-most intense hurricane season on record. Emily and now Beryl are the only two Category 5 hurricanes in the month of July.
Hurricane Beryl was already the strongest June hurricane, the easternmost hurricane to develop in the month of June and the earliest Category 4 storm on record. Records go back to the 1800s.
Previously:
• Hurricane Beryl is historic in all the worst ways
• After Hurricane Katrina, years of post-traumatic stress: a first-person account
• Fripp and Toyah 'Rock You Like a Hurricane'