Hurricane Beryl tracker: Updates, projected path, location on Thursday

Forecasting With Friends: Tracking Hurricane Beryl

A heat wave is covering Houston this Fourth of July. Meanwhile, the Yucatan Peninsula and the Gulf Coast are bracing for Hurricane Beryl. Join the FOX 26 Weather Team as we talk all things weather.

Hurricane Beryl continues its deadly, destructive path Thursday on its way to the Yucatan Peninsula and then the Gulf of Mexico later this week.

As of 10 p.m. CT, the hurricane had weakened to a Category 3 storm with maximum sustained winds at 115 mph. It was located about 135 miles east-southeast of Tulum, Mexico. It was moving west at 16 mph.

According to the National Hurricane Center, Beryl is expected to weaken over the next day or two, but it is still expected to be at hurricane strength as it approaches the Yucatan Peninsula early Friday.

Beryl is then expected to head into the Gulf of Mexico as a tropical storm, although it could regain some strength as it approaches landfall on the Gulf Coast.

Some uncertainty remains about where it will make landfall, but Mexico and a portion of the Texas coast are currently in the cone of uncertainty. Beryl is expected to affect South Texas initially on Sunday with high winds and rain.

Houston is not expected to receive a direct hit, but heavy rain is possible Monday through Wednesday.

The FOX 26 Weather Team is closely monitoring developments. They will continue to keep you up-to-date online, on-air, on social media and on FOX Local.

At least 7 killed in the Caribbean

Hurricane Beryl has left at least seven people dead after roaring across the Caribbean, according to officials.

Three people were reported killed in Grenada and Carriacou and another in St. Vincent and the Grenadines, officials said. Three other deaths were reported in northern Venezuela, where four people were missing, officials said.

One fatality in Grenada occurred after a tree fell on a house, Kerryne James, the environment minister, told The Associated Press.

Houston city leaders on Hurricane Beryl concerns

All eyes are on Hurricane Beryl as the powerful storm sets its sights on Jamaica. FOX 26 anchor Caroline Collins takes a look at the direct and indirect damage our city leaders are preparing for.

Historic Hurricane Beryl

Beryl strengthened from a tropical depression to a major hurricane in just 42 hours, which only six other Atlantic hurricanes have done, with Sept. 1 as the previous earliest date, according to hurricane expert Sam Lillo.

It also was the earliest Category 4 Atlantic hurricane, besting Hurricane Dennis, which became a Category 4 storm on July 8, 2005. Beryl later became the earliest Category 5 observed in the Atlantic basin on record, and only the second Category 5 hurricane in July after Hurricane Emily in 2005, the National Hurricane Center said.

Beryl also marked the farthest east that a hurricane has formed in the tropical Atlantic in June, breaking a record set in 1933, according to Philip Klotzbach, Colorado State University hurricane researcher.

Hurricane preparedness list

You should have a disaster preparedness kit ready to go well before a storm is ever on the way. At a minimum, your kit should have the basic supplies like food, water, first aid supplies and flashlights.

Click here to see a list of basic supplies to include in your hurricane preparedness kit.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.