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A reconnaissance aircraft from the U.S. Air Force reported this Monday birds caught in the eye of Hurricane Melissa, a sign of the severe intensity of the cyclone that reached category 5 on Monday with winds of 280 km/h and a central pressure of 906 mb.
According to the meteorologist Matthew Cappucci, it is likely that tens of thousands have been drawn into the eye, unable to withstand the strong winds blowing inland.
"Most of these birds are trapped. Sometimes they cannot escape until the storm weakens, unless they find an island and can seek refuge on land," he warned on X.
According to what was recalled, during the hurricane of 1938, the tropical birds were carried all the way to New England.
About the open ocean, he specified, "the birds have no place to land: Some fall from the sky and die of exhaustion."
The National Hurricane Center described Melissa as a "potentially catastrophic system," following a weekend of rapid intensification over the Caribbean.
Satellite images show an almost perfect structure: a compact ring of very intense storms surrounding an eye of 19 km and cloud tops below -80 °C, with a pronounced outflow channel aloft to the north, features consistent with maximum intensity cyclones.
The conditions inside the cyclone were so severe that a probe launched by the hurricane hunters recorded a gust of 241 mph (388 km/h) at an altitude of 709 feet, one of the highest measurements in a hurricane.
The NOAA plane N42RF “Kermit” aborted its mission after two penetrations of the eye on Monday morning, encountering extreme turbulence in the southwest wall; this is only the fifth time that NOAA hurricane hunters have interrupted a flight for this reason, a situation previously seen with Allen (1980), Emily (1987), Hugo (1989), and Felix (2007).
The same flight report notedbirds spinning within the eye, an occasional phenomenon when organisms are captured by the circulation and remain confined in the area of relative calm at the center.
The episode occurs in the context of a hurricane that is already among the most extreme in the basin: the pressure of 906 mb, reached late in the season, is noted as the lowest observed in the Atlantic at this time of year, making Melissa the strongest storm of 2025.
The situation in Jamaica is particularly delicate: hurricane warnings remain in effect due to a possible arrival this Tuesday morning, with expectations of devastating winds, flash floods, and landslides.
With such a slow movement, the rain bands have lingered over the country and the surrounding region, while authorities urge everyone to exercise extreme caution, complete preparations, and stay alert for official updates.
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