Melissa was a powerful, major hurricane in the Caribbean Sea and Atlantic Ocean.

Melissa made landfall on Jamaica at midday on October 28, 2025 as a Category 5 hurricane, doing so as the strongest storm to ever hit the island. Dangerous winds, flash flooding, and storm surge from the hurricane battered Jamaica, leading to infrastructure damage and power outages. After several hours, Melissa had crossed to the other side of the island nation, weakening to a Category 4 storm.

At its peak, Melissa recorded maximum sustained winds of 185 mph (300 km/h), and a minimum central pressure of 892 mb, ranking among the strongest Atlantic hurricanes ever.

Melissa formed on October 21, 2025, becoming the thirteenth named storm of the 2025 Atlantic hurricane season, strengthening into a hurricane on October 25, 2025. Melissa then underwent a period of rapid intensification, which saw it intensify into a major hurricane on the evening of the same day. Melissa continued to further intensify, becoming a Category 4 storm early the next day. On the morning of October 27, 2025, Melissa was upgraded to a powerful Category 5 hurricane.

After passing Jamaica, Melissa made landfall on the southeastern coast of Cuba during the early morning hours of October 29, 2025, still as a major hurricane. It emerged back over water on the north side of the country a few hours later, having weakened to a category 2 storm due to passing over high terrain.

Besides Jamaica and Cuba, Haiti and the Bahamas were also under threat of impacts from Hurricane Melissa. After exiting Cuba, Melissa passed over the Bahamas during the afternoon and evening of October 29, 2025. Accelerating northeast across the Atlantic Ocean, Melissa made a close approach to Bermuda on October 31, 2025. Several hours later, Melissa weakened into a post-tropical cyclone, passing by the Canadian island province of Newfoundland later that night.

In the wake of Hurricane Melissa, dozens of people have lost their lives across several Caribbean island nations.

For more information, visit the National Hurricane Center.