Tropical Storm Beryl Recap

Given the poor timing relative to the busy holiday weekend, Beryl's impact was felt well before landfall early Memorial Day morning. At least 100 rip current rescues took place Saturday May 26 from northeast Florida to South Carolina.

Beryl's convection consolidated much closer to its center on Sunday May 27, prompting the National Hurricane Center to designate it a "tropical storm". Beryl made landfall just after midnight on Memorial Day, May 28 at Jacksonville Beach, Fla. Beryl was the strongest tropical cyclone to make a U.S. landfall before June 1 on record. There are no records of a hurricane making U.S. landfall before June 1.

Numerous trees were downed from southern South Carolina to northeast Florida as Beryl crawled ashore. At its peak, roughly 26,000 customers were without power in northeast Florida and south Georgia. Winds gusted to 73 mph at Mayport, Fla., 65 mph at Kings Bay, Ga., and 47 mph at St. Simons Island, Ga.

However, in some areas, it was too much too quickly. Parts of north Florida near Live Oak picked up a staggering 15 inches of rain in much less than 24 hours. A combination of heavy rain and surge sent the river into flood in Jacksonville Beach, floating cars in a below-ground parking lot.

Finally, on Wednesday May 30, an EF1 tornado touched down in Carteret County, N.C. While only on the ground for one-half mile, roughly 67 homes were damaged near Peletier. Fortunately, no injuries or fatalities were reported with this brief tornado.