Hurricane Melissa hit Jamaica as a fierce Class 5 storm, making landfall Tuesday afternoon as one of many strongest hurricanes ever recorded within the Atlantic basin.
“That is a particularly harmful and life-threatening state of affairs,” the Miami-based Nationwide Hurricane Middle warned.
Melissa is predicted to carry “catastrophic winds, flash flooding and storm surge,” particularly to the western a part of the island, earlier than shifting on to Cuba and the Bahamas.
Melissa, the thirteenth named storm of the Atlantic season, is not anticipated to have main impacts on the mainland United States, however it has was the strongest Atlantic system this season and is tied for the second-strongest on file when it comes to wind velocity.
Melissa’s forecast and path
The storm made landfall alongside Jamaica’s southwestern coast at round 1 p.m. ET on Tuesday, packing most sustained winds of 185 mph, the hurricane heart stated. Hurricanes attain Class 5 — the highest of the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale — when their winds hit 157 mph.
Melissa’s wind speeds had been later clocked at 150 mph, making it a Class 4 hurricane, the hurricane heart stated in a 4 p.m. replace. The storm was touring north-northeast at 8 mph.
With the NHC’s newest replace, the storm was positioned about 10 miles south of Jamaica’s Montego Bay, and about 215 miles southwest of Guantanamo, Cuba.
Map reveals the forecast path of Hurricane Melissa within the Caribbean.
CBS Information
Peak storm surge accompanied by harmful waves is forecast to achieve 9 to 13 ft above floor stage in Jamaica, 8 to 12 ft in Cuba, 5 to eight ft within the southeastern Bahamas, and a pair of to 4 ft in usually dry floor of Turks and Caicos Islands.
The storm’s extraordinarily gradual tempo additionally raises the chance of harmful impacts, notably in Jamaica.
“The devastation goes to be so profound as a result of the storm is shifting slowly,” CBS Information Philadelphia meteorologist Grant Gilmore stated. “It may stay at a really gradual tempo because it traverses the island. … The entire threats {that a} hurricane can unleash on an island, it is all going to occur in Jamaica.”
Satellite tv for pc picture reveals Hurricane Melissa within the Caribbean Sea, approaching Jamaica, on Oct. 28, 2025.
NOAA/Nationwide Hurricane Middle through Getty Photographs
“The island’s terrain makes it even worse,” CBS Information Philadelphia meteorologist Andrew Kozak defined. “Jamaica’s mountains power the air to rise, and that creates extra rain.”
The strongest earlier hurricane to pound the island was Gilbert in 1988, which killed 45 folks and induced greater than $700 million in harm.
The crew of a U.S. Air Power 403rd Wing “Hurricane Hunters” flight bumped into extreme turbulence because it approached Melissa’s eyewall on Monday and needed to return to their base in Florida, however they did seize beautiful photos of the middle of the storm. One other flight on Tuesday to assemble information on the hurricane additionally needed to flip again after hitting robust turbulence.
A U.S. Air Power Reserve crew from the 53rd Climate Reconnaissance Squadron, often called the “Hurricane Hunters,” flies by Hurricane Melissa on Oct. 27, 2025, to gather very important climate information for the Nationwide Hurricane Middle.
Lt. Col. Mark Withee/U.S. Air Power through Getty Photographs
Hurricane advisories
A hurricane warning is in impact for Jamaica and the Cuban provinces of Granma, Santiago de Cuba, Guantanamo and Holguin, in addition to the southeastern and central Bahamas.
A tropical storm warning is posted for Haiti, the Cuban province of Las Tunas and Turks and Caicos Islands.
The U.S. Naval Station Guantanamo Bay stated it was shifting “non-mission-essential” U.S. residents off the island in teams forward of extreme climate from Melissa. About 1,000 U.S. navy personnel have been evacuated.
Map reveals danger of storm surge from Hurricane Melissa.
CBS Information
Rainfall forecasts
Melissa is predicted to carry 15 to 30 inches of rain to areas of Jamaica and 6 to 12 inches to southern Hispaniola (the island cut up into Haiti and the Dominican Republic) by Wednesday, with a complete of 40 inches potential in some locations, the hurricane heart stated.
“Catastrophic flash flooding and quite a few landslides are possible,” the middle emphasised.
For jap Cuba, whole rainfall may attain 10 to twenty inches, with as a lot as 25 inches in some spots by Wednesday, which may end in “life-threatening and probably catastrophic flash flooding with quite a few landslides,” the middle added.
And whole rainfall of 5 to 10 inches is predicted Tuesday into Wednesday within the southeastern Bahamas, leading to areas of flash flooding. Turks and Caicos Islands may see as much as 4 inches of rain.
Map reveals potential rainfall totals from Hurricane Melissa in Jamaica.
CBS Information
Within the Bahamas, forecasters stated, a complete rainfall of 4 to eight inches is predicted Tuesday into Wednesday, leading to areas of flash flooding. For Bermuda, heavy rain is predicted Thursday night time.
Local weather change fueling the storm
Above-average Atlantic Ocean temperatures, made worse by local weather change, helped Melissa quickly intensify into a significant hurricane, in line with local weather scientists.
“That a part of the Atlantic is extraordinarily heat proper now — round 30 levels Celsius (86 levels Fahrenheit), which is 2 to three levels Celsius above regular,” Akshay Deoras, a meteorologist on the College of Studying within the U.Okay., advised The Related Press. “And it isn’t simply the floor. The deeper layers of the ocean are additionally unusually heat, offering an unlimited reservoir of power for the storm.”
Stronger winds, heavier rainfall and better sea stage rise will make storm surge extra intense.
Preliminary information from Local weather Central, a nonprofit group of scientists monitoring the results of local weather change, means that local weather change has elevated Melissa’s wind velocity by 10 mph.
“Local weather change is basically altering our climate. It doesn’t imply that each single tropical cyclone goes to undergo speedy or super-rapid intensification. Nonetheless, in our hotter world, it would proceed to extend the chance of storms going by speedy and super-rapid intensification,” Bernadette Woods Placky, chief meteorologist at Local weather Central, advised The AP.
The Related Press,
Tracy J. Wholf,
Nikki Nolan and
Rob Marciano
contributed to this report.
ClimateWatch: Local weather Change Information & Options
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