Hurricane Beryl, which formed Saturday evening, rapidly intensified into a major Category 4 storm Sunday, and is nearing landfall in the Windward Islands Monday morning. Why it matters: The storm is rewriting hurricane history.

Barbados, located east of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, although not part of the chain of islands mentioned above, is usually grouped with the Windward Islands. Trinidad and Tobago, geographically an extension of South America, are often considered the southern end of the Windward Islands.