Hurricanes and tropical storms

Hurricane Melissa Makes Category 5 Landfall in Jamaica

Published OCT 28 2025

Story

Above: Hurricane Melissa churns northwest through the Caribbean Sea on Oct. 27, 2025. Image credit: NOAA/Getty Images

The Facts

Hurricane Melissa made landfall in Jamaica on Tuesday as a Category 5 storm with maximum sustained winds of 185 mph (298 kph), marking the strongest hurricane to directly strike the island since record-keeping began 174 years ago in 1851.
The Weather Channel
People
The Times (UK)
Very early reports of casualties included fatalities in Jamaica, Haiti, and the Dominican Republic.
FOX 8
Newsweek
Yahoo! News
Hurricane Melissa's minimum central pressure reached 892 millibars, tying it with the 1935 Labor Day Hurricane for the third-most-intense Atlantic Basin hurricane on record and surpassing Hurricane Katrina's peak intensity of 902 millibars.
Fox Weather
The Weather Channel
NOAA
The storm's extremely slow movement allowed it to gather strength over warm Caribbean waters. It threatens to produce up to 30 inches of rainfall with catastrophic flooding and landslides across Jamaica.
Daily Mail
New York Post
CNN
More than 240,000 customers lost power before landfall — approximately 35% of Jamaica's electrical grid — while only about 6,000 people sought shelter in the island's available evacuation centers.
FOX 8
BBC News
Fox Weather
Hurricane Melissa is forecast to continue as a major hurricane toward southeastern Cuba and the Bahamas. Cuban officials are evacuating over 600,000 people.
FOX 8
The New York Times
Daily Mail

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The Spin

Climate-concerned narrative

Hurricane Melissa is yet another piece of evidence that climate change is supercharging deadly storms right now. Ocean temperatures are 2-3 degrees above normal, creating perfect conditions for rapid intensification that wouldn't have happened decades ago. Warmer seas and atmosphere are directly fueling stronger winds, heavier rainfall, and higher storm surges.

New Scientist

The Climate Brink

Wired

Climate-skeptic narrative

The influence of climate change on stalling hurricanes remains uncertain. For Hurricane Melissa, it's unclear how much climate change contributed versus natural variability. Rapid attribution studies offer early insights, but full assessments need detailed data and time. Currently, there's no confirmed link between climate change and Melissa's intensity. Climate alarmism is detrimental to analyzing situations like these.

Steve Milloy on X

Science Media Centre

The Daily Sceptic