Hurricane Melissa Has Meteorologists Terrified
6 months ago
- #Category 5
- #Climate Change
- #Hurricane Melissa
- Hurricane Melissa is set to make landfall in Jamaica as a Category 5 hurricane, with remarkable intensity.
- The storm's minimum pressure of 892 mb ties it with the 1935 Labor Day hurricane as the most intense by pressure to make landfall.
- Melissa's wind speeds rapidly intensified from 70 mph to 185 mph in just a few days, which is extremely rare for a storm already at high intensity.
- The hurricane formed over unusually warm Caribbean waters, which helped maintain its strength despite moving slowly.
- Melissa's strong, sustained eye shows no signs of an eyewall replacement cycle, which is unusual for a storm of this intensity.
- This is the third Category 5 storm in the Atlantic this season, the first time since the deadly 2005 season.
- Experts compare Melissa's potential impact to Hurricane Andrew, which caused catastrophic damage in Florida in 1992.
- Climate change does not cause specific storms but increases the odds of more intense hurricanes due to warmer ocean waters.