The hurricane Melissa, which made landfall on Tuesday afternoon along the southern coast of Jamaica, has intensified over the past few hours, with its maximum sustained winds increasing to 295 km/h and central pressure dropping to 892 hectoPascals, thus continuing to be a dangerous hurricane of significant intensity, reported the Forecasting Center of the Institute of Meteorology of Cuba (INSMET).
The center of Hurricane Melissa —category 5 on the Saffir-Simpson scale— was located at 18.0 degrees North latitude and 78.0 degrees West longitude, a position that places it about 50 kilometers south of Montego Bay, Jamaica; 205 kilometers south of Cabo Cruz in Granma, and 320 kilometers southwest of Santiago de Cuba, as specified by the Tropical Cyclone Advisory No. 19.
According to the INSMET prediction, in the next 24 hours, Melissa is expected to shift its trajectory more towards the northeast and gradually increase its translational speed. During the afternoon–evening, it will approach the southern coast of the eastern region of Cuba.
Cuban meteorologists warned that, even though Melissa will experience fluctuations in its intensity, it will remain a highly intense hurricane as it passes through Cuba.
The outer bands of the powerful hurricane are already affecting the eastern region of Cuba with showers and rain, which will become substantial in the afternoon, from the province of Camagüey to Guantánamo. There will be strong and intense precipitation in some areas, especially in mountainous zones, with accumulations ranging from 200 to 450 millimeters in the next 24 hours.
Meanwhile, the winds will be from the northeast to the east in much of the country, while in the afternoon speeds will reach between 35 and 50 kilometers per hour in the eastern provinces, with higher gusts, which will increase to tropical storm strength from the early hours of the night.
The weather report emphasized that strong swells will continue, with waves between 2.5 to 4 meters in the seas south of the provinces of Granma, Santiago de Cuba, and Guantánamo during the afternoon. However, starting from the early hours of the night, waves will reach heights between 4 and 6 meters and will cause flooding ranging from moderate to severe in low-lying areas of this coastline.
The INSMET Forecast Center is closely monitoring the development and future path of the intense hurricane and will issue its next advisory on the tropical cyclone at six o'clock this Tuesday evening.
Melissa among the most powerful hurricanes of all time
While it strikes with all its might the southern coast of Jamaica this Tuesday and dangerously approaches the east of Cuba, Melissa has already made history by being one of the most powerful hurricanes recorded in Atlantic history.
The sustained winds of 295 km/h (185 mph), with higher gusts, and the minimum central pressure of 892 millibars (hectopascals) of this tropical cyclone place it within the limited group of extreme category 5 hurricanes, comparable only to historical monsters such as Wilma (2005), Dorian (2019), and the Labor Day hurricane (1935).
The National Hurricane Center (NHC) of the United States stated that Melissa is among the three most intense hurricanes in the Atlantic since modern records began and could become the strongest to directly impact Jamaica in nearly two centuries of observations.
The powerful meteor is causing "catastrophic winds, sudden flooding, and storm surges on the island," reported a bulletin from the NHC before noon.
The 2025 hurricane season in the Atlantic is considered by experts to be one of the most active in two decades, with 13 named storms, five hurricanes, and four major hurricanes so far. Melissa is the third Category 5 hurricane of the year, a phenomenon not seen since 2005.
With its atmospheric pressure and maximum sustained winds, Melissa is already making history as one of the most powerful hurricanes ever recorded, and its passage through the Caribbean could leave a mark as deep as the names that no one forgets.
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