Hurricane Melissa ties Atlantic records as scientists trace power to warming seas

Hurricane 

Melissa stunned meteorologists this week after tying historic records for strength at landfall in the Atlantic. With sustained winds reaching 185 miles per hour and barometric pressure matching the deadly 1935 Labor Day storm, Melissa ranks among the most powerful hurricanes ever to hit land. Only Hurricane Allen (1980) reached stronger winds — 190 mph — though not at landfall, experts noted.

Typically, intense hurricanes undergo an eyewall replacement cycle, where the storm’s inner core collapses and reforms, briefly reducing its power. But Melissa defied that pattern, maintaining its ferocious structure even as it hovered near Jamaica’s mountainous terrain, which usually disrupts hurricanes.

“It was next to a big mountainous island and it doesn’t even notice it’s there,” said University of Miami researcher Brian McNoldy.

Meteorologists say abnormally warm ocean waters were the key driver. Parts of the sea beneath Melissa were more than 2°C (3.6°F) warmer than normal. According to Climate Central, such conditions are 500 to 700 times more likely today due to human-caused climate change. “It’s wild how easily this was allowed to just keep venting,” said Bernadette Woods Placky, Climate Central’s chief meteorologist.

Melissa intensified at a breathtaking pace, undergoing five rapid strengthening phases in just over a day. “It’s an explosion,” Woods Placky said, describing how wind speeds leapt from 175 to 185 mph overnight. A rapid analysis by the media found a striking rise in Category 5 Atlantic hurricanes over the past decade: 13 between 2016 and 2025, including three this year alone. That’s nearly one-third of all Category 5 storms recorded in the last 125 years.

While improved satellite monitoring has enhanced storm detection, experts like McNoldy and Colorado State University’s Phil Klotzbach agree the broader trend aligns with climate predictions — a warmer world producing stronger, faster-intensifying storms. As Woods Placky put it, “When these storms pass over extremely warm water, it’s more fuel for them to explode — and push to new, frightening levels.”