Hurricane Melissa made landfall Tuesday afternoon in southwestern Jamaica near New Hope with estimated maximum sustained winds of 185 mph.
Hurricane Melissa is one for the record books and continues to bring catastrophic impacts to the Caribbean.
The pressure of the system at landfall was 892 mb, which ties it as the strongest landfalling storm on record in the Atlantic basin.
The Labor Day hurricane (1935) made landfall in the Florida Keys with a pressure of 892 mb. Melissa is also the first category five storm to make landfall in the Atlantic basin this decade. Hurricane Dorian (2019) was the last storm to make landfall as a Category 5 hurricane in the Atlantic basin. This system made landfall in the Northwestern Bahamas.
Many of you recall the extremely active 2005 hurricane season.
Rita and Wilma reached category five status. Rita made landfall near the border of Texas and Louisiana in September. Wilma initially made landfall on Cozumel Island, Mexico in October. The storm made a secondary landfall a day later in Cape Romano, Florida. Katrina also reached category five status that season and its lowest pressure reached 902 mb. That storm made landfall near Buras-Triumph, Louisiana.
The year 2005 holds the record for the most Category 5 storms in one season, with four storms. The second most active season is this year with three storms reaching Category 5 intensity (Erin, Humberto, Melissa).