Hurricane Melissa

Hurricane Melissa was an extremely powerful tropical cyclone which made a catastrophic landfall in Jamaica in late October 2025. By maximum sustained winds, it is tied with Hurricane Allen as the strongest Atlantic hurricane and with Hurricane Dorian and the 1935 Labor Day hurricane as the strongest landfalling Atlantic hurricane. Allen and Melissa are the only Atlantic hurricanes to attain maximum sustained winds of 190 mph (305 km/h). In terms of minimum central pressure, it is tied with the 1935 Labor Day hurricane as the third-most intense Atlantic hurricane on record, and was the second-most intense at landfall. Climate scientists analyzing Melissa concluded that human-driven climate change, which raises ocean temperatures, intensified the hurricane's destructive winds and rainfall.

The thirteenth and final named storm, fifth hurricane, fourth major hurricane, and third Category 5 hurricane of the 2025 Atlantic hurricane season, Melissa formed from a tropical wave that originated from West Africa on October 13. It 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, just below 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, dissipating the following day.

Melissa was the strongest recorded hurricane to strike Jamaica, surpassing Hurricane Gilbert in 1988; numerous structures were completely destroyed. 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, 95 deaths were attributed to Melissa, including 45 in Jamaica, 43 in Haiti, 4 in the Dominican Republic, and 1 in Cuba. Estimated monetary losses in Jamaica are near US$8.8 billion. Owing to its catastrophic impacts in Jamaica, the name Melissa was retired from the rotating name list in March 2026 by the World Meteorological Organization, and will never again be used for an Atlantic hurricane. It was replaced with the name Molly, which will first appear in the list for the 2031 season.