SUMMARY: Meteorologist Alexandra Cranford reports heightened tropical activity, focusing on Hurricane Barrel, which was upgraded from a tropical storm. Barrel has 75 mph winds and is moving west at 22 mph towards the Lesser Antilles, potentially becoming a Category 3 storm. It may weaken to Category 1 due to wind shear as it approaches the Yucatan or southern Gulf of Mexico by next week. Another system with a 70% chance of development could follow, potentially named Chris. A third system near the Yucatan has a 50% chance of development. For the Gulf Coast, no immediate impacts are expected, with a hot week ahead.

Meteorologist Alexandra Cranford talks about this season's first hurricane.

Hurricane Beryl is fairly small with tropical storm force winds extending about 50 miles from its center. Its winds are estimated at 75 mph.

It is moving west at 22 mph, into the Caribbean Sea, but first, it will cross the Lesser Antilles late Sunday into Monday.

By that point, it could already be our first major hurricane of the season. It may strengthen pretty quickly to Category 2 and then indeed to Category 3 hurricane, but we will see.

It could be a serious storm with high winds, surges, and rain for some of the southern Lesser Antilles. Then it continues across the western Caribbean or eventually gets into the west of the Caribbean Sea.

Note that right now the intensity forecast is for it to come down a little bit in strength due to some wind shear in the Caribbean. That would be a good thing.

The timeline for the Beryl is through Thursday and this may be when it reaches Category 1 status. Maybe close to Yucatan in Mexico or somewhere near Cuba.

In the following couple of days into next weekend, it may be somewhere around Yucatan or the southern Gulf of Mexico. That's tentative as we know near 5 to seven days out with these tropical systems.

The systems are currently in the Atlantic Ocean, way out past the Caribbean.

Another system comes behind Beryl with a 70 percent chance of developing into a depression or storm in the next week or so. If it develops it would get the name Chris if it does become a tropical storm.

Closer to the Gulf of Mexico is another system that is over Yucatan. It will have a 50/50 chance of developing according to the National Hurricane Center, as it moves into Mexico to become briefly a depression or storm.

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SUMMARY: Beryl intensified into a hurricane on Saturday, advancing towards the southeastern Caribbean. It's forecasted to become a Category 3 or higher storm, posing life-threatening conditions for Barbados, St. Lucia, Grenada, and St. Vincent and the Grenadines. Tropical storm warnings and watches are issued for Martinique, Tobago, and Dominica. Florida-based hurricane expert Michael Lowry noted the unusual early formation of such a powerful storm. The hurricane accelerated rapidly, driven by record-high ocean heat. Barbadian Prime Minister Mia Mottley urged residents to take all possible precautions. Beryl is expected to impact Jamaica and Mexico after passing near Barbados.

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SUMMARY: In New Orleans, the NPD is investigating a fatal double shooting that resulted in the deaths of a man and a woman. Police responded to reports of gunfire at a home on Monroe Street in the Leonidas neighborhood, where they discovered the two victims with gunshot wounds. Further details were not provided by the NPD, and efforts are ongoing to gather more information about the incident.

The NOPD says it happened at about 6:51 a.m. Saturday in the 1200 block of Monroe Street.

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