Hurricane Melissa has made landfall on Jamaica as by far the strongest storm to hit the island since records were first kept 174 years ago.
Melissa is a Category 5 storm with sustained wind speeds of 180 mph (280 kph). It is expected to slice diagonally across the island, entering near St. Elizabeth parish in the south and exiting around St. Ann parish in the north, before heading for Cuba. A life-threatening storm surge of up to 13 feet (4 meters) is expected across southern Jamaica.
Officials said there was no more preparation they could do and cautioned that the cleanup and damage assessment will be slow. The storm has already been blamed for at least seven deaths in the Caribbean — three in Jamaica, three in Haiti and one in the Dominican Republic.
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Melissa nears max potential intensity earth can produce
Melissa is nearing the maximum potential intensity that earth’s atmosphere can produce.
The Category 5 hurricane produced a wind gust recorded at an astonishing 241 mph by Hurricane Hunters on Monday, Oct. 27, 2025. That makes it one of the strongest hurricanes ever recorded.
Melissa’s maximum sustained winds on Tuesday morning have reached 180 mph. That’s so significant because the theoretical limit of the strength of a tropical cyclone that earth’s atmosphere can produce is currently around 184 mph.
That means Hurricane Melissa is approaching earth’s maximum theoretical intensity.
Hurricane Hunters also reported that they saw birds in the calm of the storm’s eye because the winds were too violent in the eyewall for them to escape.
Melissa is now stronger than Hurricane Katrina, at one point reaching 896 mb pressure.