"Hurricane Melissa made landfall in southwestern Jamaica, near New Hope, on Tuesday at 1 pm ET with staggeringly powerful sustained winds of 185 mph. In the National Hurricane Center update noting the precise landfall time and location, specialist Larry Kelly characterized Melissa as an "extremely dangerous and life-threatening" hurricane. Melissa is bringing very heavy rainfall, damaging surge, and destructive winds to the small Caribbean island that is home to about 3 million people."
"By any measure, Melissa is an extraordinary and catastrophic storm. By strengthening overnight and then maintaining its incredible intensity of 185 mph, Melissa has tied the Labor Day Hurricane of 1935 as the most powerful hurricane to strike a landmass in the Atlantic Basin, which includes the United States, Mexico, Central America, and the Caribbean islands. Melissa also tied the Labor Day storm, which struck the Florida Keys, as the most intense storm at landfall, measured by central pressure at 892 millibars."
Melissa made landfall in southwestern Jamaica near New Hope on Tuesday at 1 pm ET with sustained winds of 185 mph. The National Hurricane Center update noted the precise landfall time and location, and specialist Larry Kelly characterized Melissa as an "extremely dangerous and life-threatening" hurricane. Melissa is producing very heavy rainfall, damaging storm surge, and destructive winds across the island of about 3 million people. Impacts are expected to be catastrophic and prolonged. Melissa tied the 1935 Labor Day Hurricane for the most powerful landfall in the Atlantic Basin and matched its 892 millibar central pressure, and is tied as the second-strongest Atlantic hurricane by wind speed.
Read at Ars Technica
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