- NEED TO KNOW
- Melissa is the first-ever Category 5 hurricane to make a direct hit on Jamaica
- Melissa is the strongest hurricane of the 2025 Atlantic hurricane season
- Melissa is considered one of the strongest Atlantic hurricanes on record
- Melissa is the strongest storm recorded on Earth in 2025
- This is just the second Atlantic hurricane season with more than two Category 5 storms
NEED TO KNOW
- Hurricane Melissa has made landfall as a powerful Category 5 storm in Jamaica
- As of Oct. 28, the storm has maximum sustained winds of 185 mph and gusts up to 220 mph
- Melissa is not only the strongest storm in the Atlantic this year — it is also considered the strongest on record in 2025
Hurricane Melissa is one of the most powerful storms the Atlantic has seen in years.
The storm, which made landfall in Jamaica on Tuesday, Oct. 28, is packing a punch with maximum sustained winds of 185 mph and gusts up to 220 mph at its strongest, according to AccuWeather.
At least seven deaths have already been recorded in connection with Melissa as what some call “the storm of the century” slowly approaches several other nations in the Caribbean, including Haiti, Cuba, the Bahamas and the Turks and Caicos.
“It’s going to be a very dangerous scenario,” said Michael Brennan, director of the U.S. National Hurricane Center in Miami, the Associated Press reported.
Here are five startling facts about this devastating storm.
Melissa is the first-ever Category 5 hurricane to make a direct hit on Jamaica
This is the first time a Category 5 storm has ever made a direct hit on Jamaica since records started being kept, according to BBC News and Newsweek.
Before Melissa, the strongest storm to make a direct hit on the island nation was Hurricane Gilbert in 1988, which came ashore as a Category 3 storm. It was the most recent direct hit, killing 49 people.
Category 5 storms have previously come close to making a direct hit on Jamaica, including Hurricane Dean in 2007 and Hurricane Beryl in 2024.
A U.S. Air Force Reserve crew from the 53rd Weather Reconnaissance Squadron, known as the “Hurricane Hunters,” flies through Hurricane Melissa on October 27, 2025 over the Caribbean Sea.
Lt. Col. Mark Withee/U.S. Air Force via Getty
Melissa is the strongest hurricane of the 2025 Atlantic hurricane season
Currently, Hurricane Melissa is the strongest hurricane to form in the Atlantic this season, which runs from June 1 to Nov. 30.
Melissa achieved maximum sustained winds of an estimated 185 mph, according to a public advisory issued by the National Hurricane Center.
Two other Atlantic-based storms, Hurricane Erin and Hurricane Humberto, reached Category 5 status this season. Both topped out at winds of 160 mph, according to The Washington Post.
Volunteers assemble relief packages for Hurricane Melissa at the Global Empowerment Mission headquarters in Miami, Florida, on October 27, 2024.
CHANDAN KHANNA/AFP via Getty
Melissa is considered one of the strongest Atlantic hurricanes on record
Melissa is considered among the strongest hurricanes ever recorded in the Atlantic basin. It currently ranks third based on minimum barometric pressure, behind Gilbert in 1988 (888 millibars) and Wilma in 2005 (882 millibars), according to the Post.
As of Tuesday, Oct. 27, Melissa has reached an estimated minimum barometric pressure of 892 millibars, according to the National Hurricane Center. This is the lowest pressure ever observed in an Atlantic hurricane this late in the season, according to Yale Climate Connections.
Hurricane Milton, which devastated central Florida in 2024, is now tied for the fifth strongest hurricane on record with Hurricane Rita from 2005, the Post reported. Both storms had an estimated minimum pressure of 895 millibars at one point during their lifespan.
Melissa also has some of the strongest sustained winds ever recorded in an Atlantic hurricane at 185 mph. It is currently tied for second with four other storms — Dorian in 2019, Wilma in 2005, Gilbert in 1988 and the “Labor Day” storm in 1935.
Hurricane Melissa Tropical storm force wind speed probabilities.
NOAA/National Weather Service
Melissa is the strongest storm recorded on Earth in 2025
Not only is Hurricane Melissa the strongest storm of the 2025 Atlantic hurricane season, but it is also the strongest storm recorded on Earth this year, according to Yale Climate Connections.
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The previous record holder for the year was Typhoon Ragasa, which reached 165 mph winds and a 910 millibar central pressure in the Western Pacific in September. The storm killed at least 27 people, according to AccuWeather.
Waves crash onto the beach in Kingston on October 27, 2025 as Hurricane Melissa approaches.
RICARDO MAKYN/AFP via Getty
This is just the second Atlantic hurricane season with more than two Category 5 storms
Thanks to Melissa, 2025 is now just the second year in which three or more Category 5 storms formed in the Atlantic, according to the Scientific American.
Previously, Hurricane Erin and Hurricane Humberto reached Category 5 status in August and September, respectively. Melissa is the strongest of the three.
The most Category 5 storms ever recorded in an Atlantic hurricane season were four in 2005, which saw Hurricanes Emily, Katrina, Rita and Wilma.
