Hurricane Melissa now tied for strongest winds in an Atlantic storm

Hurricane Melissa, which claimed at least 95 lives last fall, got an upgrade from the National Hurricane Center in a post-season review.

As the record-breaking hurricane approached Jamaica, its estimated highest sustained winds topped out at a terrifying 190 mph on Oct. 28, tying with 1980's Hurricane Allen as one of the two hurricanes with the highest wind speed on record in the Atlantic basin.

With less than 100 days until the start of the 2026 hurricane season on June 1, the hurricane center is finishing up its reviews of the 2025 season. The new information about Melissa's wind speeds was revealed in the final report the center posted on Feb. 25.

Elsewhere this week, Tropical Cyclone Horacio became a Category 5 storm with 160 mph winds in the Indian Ocean east of Madagascar.

Melissa's rapid intensification and high winds and atypical hurricane behavior amazed even some of the more experienced scientists who study tropical cyclones, thanks in part to its journey over some exceptionally warm waters in the Caribbean.

Recorded wind gusts topped 250 mph

At around the same time as the sustained winds peaked, a wind gust of 252 mph was measured by a dropsonde instrument dropped by the crew of a Hurricane hunter aircraft with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

That was the highest wind speed ever recorded by the expendable instruments, called dropsondes, that are deployed into hurricanes, according to the National Center for Atmospheric Research at the National Science Foundation, where the instruments were developed. The White House has directed the foundation to dismantle the atmospheric center, known as NCAR.

Andrew Hazelton, the hurricane scientist at the University of Miami, who processed the record for the 252-mph wind gust, told USA TODAY on Feb. 25 that he's "not surprised" to see the upgrade.

"The blend of data (dropsondes, flight-level data, satellites, etc) suggested that this was as strong a storm as you will ever see in the Atlantic basin, and unfortunately this happened right before landfall," Hazelton said. "Thankfully, the forecast was accurate and timely thanks to the hard work of forecasters, modelers, and other scientists who have helped us learn to better understand and predict rapid intensification."

By the time Melissa made landfall several hours later, it weakened as its circulation began to move over the island. Still, its sustained winds at landfall were estimated at 185 mph. That makes it the strongest hurricane on record to make landfall in Jamaica. That also ties the record for the hurricane with the highest sustained winds to make landfall in the Atlantic hurricane basin.

What records did Hurricane Melissa break?

• Peak maximum sustained winds, tied for first with Allen in 1980
• The 185-mph maximum sustained winds at landfall in Jamaica tied for strongest landfall with the Labor Day Hurricane of 1935 and Dorian in 2019
• Its lowest central barometric pressure – 892 millibars – is tied with the Labor Day storm for third most intense behind Wilma in 2005 and Gilbert in 1988
• Its pressure at landfall in Jamaica – 897 millibars – is the second lowest landfall pressure on record, behind the Labor Day storm's 892 millibars.
• Highest wind measured by dropsonde 252 mph, surpassing Super Typhoon Megi in 2010.

Hurricane Melissa by the numbers

Among the information in the post-season report, the hurricane center provided the following:

• Melissa dropped up to 35 inches of rain in Jamaica, and had an estimated storm surge of 7 to 11 feet above normally dry ground east of landfall, at Crawford and the Black River.
• The physical damage to Jamaica's buildings, infrastructure and agriculture was estimated at $8.8 billion in mid-November.
• The known fatalities linked to Melissa in the Caribbean include 45 in Jamaica , 43 in Haiti, 4 in Dominican Republic and 1 in Cuba.
• An estimated 1.25 million animals perished in the storm, including poultry and cattle, and farmers also reported losing about 45% of their coffee crop.

South Florida deaths

The hurricane center concluded the deaths of Alexander and Serena Wurm were also indirectly connected to Melissa. The father and daughter were killed in a plane crash near Coral Springs, Florida, while attempting to deliver hurricane relief supplies in Jamaica. Wurm was founder and CEO of Ignite the Fire, an evangelical organization.

Dinah Voyles Pulver, a national correspondent for USA TODAY, has written about hurricanes, tornadoes and violent weather for more than 30 years. Reach her at [email protected] or @dinahvp on Bluesky or X or dinahvp.77 on Signal.