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A report from Fox Weather
By Kimone Witter
The National Hurricane Center has concluded that Hurricane Melissa was stronger than initially recorded, tying it with hurricane Allen in 1980 for the most intense hurricane ever observed in the Atlantic basin by wind speed.
In its final Tropical Cyclone Report on the October 2025 storm, the Miami-based NHC said Melissa's maximum sustained winds were upgraded to 306 kilometres or 190 miles per hour from the 298 kilometres or 185 miles per hour estimated at the time of landfall in Jamaica.
Melissa broke another record when it intensified to Category 5 strength on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale before landfall.
It is tied for strongest landfall with the US Labor Day Hurricane of 1935 and Hurricane Dorian in 2019.
A gust of 252 mph was recorded as Melissa approached Jamaica's coastline. It's one of the highest wind gusts ever measured.
Melissa has officially surpassed 1988's Hurricane Gilbert to become the most intense storm to ever strike the island. With a central pressure of 892 mb, it stands as the third strongest Atlantic hurricane on record measured by pressure.
Hurricane Melissa caused 45 deaths in Jamaica and an estimated US$8.8 billion in physical damage.
Forty-three deaths were also reported in Haiti, four in the Dominican Republic and one in Cuba.
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