Beryl was a tropical storm with 60 mph winds on Saturday morning as it crossed the Gulf of Mexico, headed in the direction of Texas.

The National Hurricane Center thinks Beryl, which became the first hurricane of 2024 earlier this week in the Caribbean and the earliest Category 5 on record in the Atlantic, could intensify to a hurricane again on Sunday as it nears landfall on the Texas coast on Monday.

Beryl’s forecast path shifted to the east over the past 24 hours or so, putting its eventual landfall farther up the coast.

Far enough to affect Alabama?

Not directly, and not as a hurricane. Beryl is not expected to be a direct threat to Alabama, according to forecasters, but waves from the storm have prompted a high risk of rip currents along the Alabama and northwest Florida coasts.

That high risk is expected to last until Sunday night, then drop to moderate on Monday before rising again to high on Tuesday through Wednesday.

There is also a coastal flood advisory in effect, according to the National Weather Service in Mobile. It runs from Destin west to the Mississippi state line.

Other than that no direct effect were mentioned by the weather service in regards to Beryl along the coast.

The official forecast track for Beryl from the hurricane center shows the storm making landfall in Texas on Monday then weakening as it lifts northeastward over eastern Texas.

The forecast track then shows a more northeastward bent. The most likely track for what’s left of the storm looks to be north of Alabama, but the so-called “cone of uncertainty” as of Saturday morning included the northern part of Alabama.

That just means that it’s not out of the question that the center of what’s left of Beryl could move across parts of the state next week.

The National Weather Service in Birmingham said forecasters will be watching where Beryl’s remnants end up, and they could help to boost rain chances for part of the state. Some of those showers could come in the form of heavy tropical downpours.

There’s also the outside chance that some of those storms that develop to the east of Beryl could begin to rotate — if Beryl were to be strong enough and near enough. That’s very uncertain at this point but something to watch for just in case.

The weather service in Huntsville said “over the past 24 hours, have seen a more northward shift in the track and one that would be favorable for at least some beneficial rain for portions of the Tennessee Valley. There are some differences regarding the northward surge of moisture ahead of Beryl, and that leads to lower confidence in shower/storm chances Monday through the day Tuesday.”

Most of the rain from Beryl is expected to stay to the west and north of Alabama this week. Below is the seven-day precipitation outlook from NOAA’s Weather Prediction Center:

However, if Beryl’s track strays farther east and south Alabama could see more rain, which would be beneficial following the past week’s heat wave.