Hurricane Melissa breaks records before losing strength today
Hurricane Melissa has been a devastating storm for islands in the Caribbean, reaching category 5 strength yesterday before making landfall in Jamaica. Due to the strength that hurricane Melissa had yesterday, records were tied and even broken in some categories.
Melissa is now tied with two other hurricanes for the strongest sustained winds at landfall, which is 185 mph. One hurricane that Melissa is tied with is Dorian in 2019. This was a hurricane that made landfall in the Bahamas, sustaining winds of 185 mph as it struck the islands. The other hurricane that managed to produce these extreme winds was the Labor Day hurricane in 1935, which occurred in the Florida Keys.
Hurricane Melissa is now also ranked amongst the 3 strongest Atlantic hurricanes ever reported as pressure at the center of the storm dropped to 892 millibars during its landfall. In hurricanes, lower pressure means a greater amount of strength that the storm has, and it is rare to see a hurricane with a reported pressure that low. Only two other hurricanes have beaten that record: Wilma, which reached 882 millibars, and Gilbert, which was measured at 888 millibars.
It is now also the strongest hurricane in history to make landfall in Jamaica, with the previous being Gilbert in 1988. This was a hurricane that had weakened into a category 4 storm before making landfall with Jamaica, producing maximum sustained winds of 130 mph.
The strength of this storm and the winds it produced have led to major damage to the public infrastructure in Jamaica and have left most of the island without power. Along with this, significant flooding has occurred due to the slow-moving nature of hurricane Melissa. This hurricane has also more recently brought significant damage to Cuba as it made landfall this morning. This storm is still expected to move into the Bahamas and the Turks and Caicos over the next 12-24 hours. This will bring hurricane conditions and life-threatening storm surge to those areas.
The main reason why hurricane Melissa was able to get so strong was due to the abnormally warm waters that have been present in the Atlantic. Climatologically, the average sea surface temperatures in the Caribbean vary between 80 to 83 degrees Fahrenheit. During the development and strengthening of hurricane Melissa, sea surface temperatures were measured closer to 85 degrees Fahrenheit. This is important because warmer waters during the lifespan of a hurricane means more fuel for the hurricane to feed off of. Melissa took advantage of these abnormally warm waters and a favorable atmospheric setup to rapidly strengthen and eventually become a category 5 storm.
Hurricane Melissa is expected to continue to impact the Bahamas and the Turks and Caicos over the next 12-24 hours as a category 1-2 storm with sustained winds at 90-105 mph. After passing through these islands, it will rapidly move north towards Bermuda, meaning any direct landfall with the United States will be avoided. This will still bring category 2 hurricane conditions and heavy rainfall to Bermuda by Thursday afternoon/evening.
