Hurricane Melissa
Updated: Wikipedia source
Hurricane Melissa was an extremely powerful, erratic, and devastating tropical cyclone that became the third-most intense Atlantic hurricane on record, tied with the 1935 Labor Day hurricane, as well as the most intense at landfall in the Atlantic basin. The thirteenth and final named storm, fifth hurricane, fourth major hurricane, and third Category 5 hurricane of the 2025 Atlantic hurricane season, Melissa is currently the strongest tropical cyclone worldwide in 2025. The storm caused catastrophic damage upon landfall in Jamaica, becoming the strongest recorded hurricane to hit the island, surpassing Hurricane Gilbert in 1988. It also generated the highest wind gust ever recorded by dropsonde data, with a wind gust of 252 mph (406 km/h) at an altitude of 657 ft (200 m), exceeding the record set by Typhoon Megi in 2010. Climate scientists analyzing Melissa concluded that human-driven climate change, which raises ocean temperatures, intensified the hurricane's destructive winds and rainfall. Melissa formed from a tropical wave that was first monitored for development on October 16. The wave originated from West Africa, traveled from the central Atlantic to the Windward Islands, and then moved quickly westward into the Caribbean Sea, where it slowed down and developed into Tropical Storm Melissa on October 21. Weak steering currents and moderate wind shear kept Melissa meandering and disorganized for the next few days as it slowly moved northwest. Over the following days, Melissa became better organized, and from October 25 to 27, rapidly intensified into a Category 5 hurricane before making landfall near New Hope, Jamaica, at its peak intensity, on October 28. Melissa emerged from the north coast of Jamaica later that day, weakened, and made landfall near Chivirico, Cuba, the next day. Melissa weakened to a Category 1 hurricane after landfall, approached Bermuda as a Category 2 hurricane, then again weakened before becoming a hurricane-force extratropical low on October 31 northeast of Bermuda. The remnants of Melissa then passed near Newfoundland, and gradually weakened over the next few days until dissipating on November 4. In Hispaniola, even though Melissa itself stayed far to the southwest, its outer rainbands produced heavy rains over the island, leading to severe and deadly flash floods and landslides. Jamaica saw catastrophic damage from Melissa, with several locations near the point of landfall experiencing almost total destruction, especially around the Westmoreland and Saint Elizabeth parishes. Significant agricultural and infrastructure damage occurred in these regions due to storm surge, flooding, and high wind gusts from Melissa's eyewall passing over. Many towns in western Jamaica were also significantly flooded as a result, which also hampered recovery efforts. Telecommunications were also severely affected, especially in the western parts of Jamaica. In all, 102 deaths were attributed to Melissa, including 54 in Jamaica, 45 direct and 9 indirect, and 43 in Haiti. Estimated monetary losses in Jamaica are near US$10 billion.