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How Hurricane Melissa went from tropical storm to Category 5 in just a few days
Hurricane Melissa became a Category 5 storm with winds of 281 km/h fueled by Caribbean waters 2-3°C above normal, threatening Jamaica with heavy rain and severe damage.
- On Tuesday, Hurricane Melissa is set to hit Jamaica after rapid intensification into a Category 5 hurricane by Monday morning.
- Akshay Deoras says unusually warm ocean surface temperatures are fueling Melissa, with ocean surface temperature in the Caribbean about two to three degrees above normal, and Shel Winkley says climate change made these conditions 500 to 700 times more likely.
- The U.S. National Hurricane Center recorded extreme wind escalation as Melissa's winds jumped from about 115 kilometres per hour to 225 kilometres per hour on Sunday and reached 281 kilometres per hour, making it the strongest storm on the planet so far in 2025.
- The storm has already caused six deaths across the Caribbean as Jamaica scrambles to prepare and workers board up in Kingston, with some areas facing one metre of rain and last year’s Hurricane Beryl caused about $200 million in losses.
- Ocean heat is becoming more common, climate scientists say, as four of this season's five hurricanes rapidly intensified and a massive Pacific heatwave produced unusual temperatures this fall in North America.
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5 Articles
5 Articles
ANALYSIS: Jamaica has been unlucky to be hit by the “storm of the century.” Although the link between hurricanes and climate change is not clear, there is much evidence that warming has worsened the situation.
·Stockholm, Sweden
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Melissa could be the strongest hurricane to ever hit Jamaica. A heating ocean is fuelling it
Hurricane Melissa, one of the strongest ever recorded in the Caribbean, is set to hit Jamaica early on Tuesday after undergoing “rapid intensification” — a climate-charged phenomenon that’s increasingly sending devastating storms to the region.
·Canada
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Coverage Details
Total News Sources5
Leaning Left2Leaning Right1Center2Last UpdatedBias Distribution40% Left, 40% Center
Bias Distribution
- 40% of the sources lean Left, 40% of the sources are Center
40% Center
L 40%
C 40%
R 20%
Factuality
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