What we're covering
• Rare Category 5: Melissa rapidly intensified over the weekend and is now a Category 5 hurricane with 165 mph winds. Its outer bands are already lashing Jamaica with wind and rain.
• Catastrophic impact: Up to 40 inches of rain, 13 feet of storm surge and 160 mph sustained winds will cause “extensive infrastructure damage” that will cut off communities, the National Hurricane Center warned.
• Jamaica’s worst hurricane: Mandatory evacuation orders have been issued for vulnerable coastal areas of Jamaica ahead of what will likely be the strongest storm on record to hit the country. Melissa has already killed three people in Haiti and one person in the Dominican Republic.
• Extreme rapid intensification: Melissa more than doubled in strength over the weekend, increasing its winds by 70 mph in just 24 hours. More tropical systems are rapidly intensifying and wringing out more rain as the atmosphere and ocean warm due to fossil fuel pollution.
"The time for preparation is all but over," Jamaica's climate change minister says
Jamaica’s climate change minister said Monday that the time for preparation is “all but over” as Hurricane Melissa moves toward the island.
Samuda encouraged people on the island to use resources sparingly and warned that disruption to the water system could start as soon as tonight.
“You will start to see disruption to water systems, we imagine, later this evening going into early morning tomorrow,” he said. “Now is definitely the time to put aside your water for storage and to use sparingly. Every drop will count.”
“The time for preparation is almost at an end,” Samuda again stressed.
Beryl showed hurricanes don't have to make landfall to deliver a blow in Jamaica
It’s been 13 years since a hurricane made landfall in Jamaica. However, last year showed it doesn’t take a landfall to cause big problems in the island nation.
While Sandy in October 2012 was the last hurricane to come ashore in Jamaica, Hurricane Beryl tracked just south of the island as a Category 4 in July 2024. Floods and high winds caused damage to homes, crops and other infrastructure, especially in southern areas.
The storm killed four people and caused an estimated $1 billion in damage, according to the hurricane center report.
Hurricane Gilbert in 1988 was the last Category 4 or stronger hurricane to make landfall in Jamaica. Melissa is poised to be the most powerful hurricane on record to come ashore.
NOW: Jamaican government officials are giving an update on Hurricane Melissa
Jamaican government officials are now giving updates about the progress of Hurricane Melissa as it churns toward Jamaica.
The press conference is taking place at the country’s Office of Disaster Preparedness and Emergency Management.
The speakers include:
• Dana Morris Dixon, minister of Education, Skills, Youth & Information
• Desmond McKenzie, minister of Local Government
• Matthew Samuda, minister of Water, Environment and Climate Change
• Robert Morgan, minister without portfolio for the Ministry of Economic, Growth and Job Creation
• Evan Thompson, Jamaica’s principal director of the Meteorological Service
We will bring you more updates as we get them.
Melissa is testing the people who fly into Earth’s worst storms
Hurricane Melissa pushed a research plane to its limit, forcing hurricane hunters to abort a mission Monday morning.
“NOAA aircraft left the storm early after experiencing severe turbulence in the southwestern eyewall,” the National Hurricane Center wrote in Melissa’s latest forecast discussion.
Hurricane hunters are no stranger to powerful winds and intense turbulence, so what happened Monday morning is remarkable. These teams routinely fly specialized aircraft into the most powerful storms on the planet to collect weather data, which is used to improve track and intensity forecasts.
But this flight was “definitely the most turbulent I’ve ever experienced,” Andy Hazelton, a hurricane expert who confirmed he was on the plane, said on X.
Aircraft positioning data shows that the plane — a WP-3D Orion — was able to take at least two passes through Melissa’s center, collecting critical weather data before experiencing the dangerous turbulence that sent researchers heading for safety.
CNN’s Thomas Bordeaux contributed to this report.
In Kingston, streets are quiet as residents brace for the powerful storm
In Jamaica’s capital city, the streets are relatively quiet ahead of Melissa’s landfall. The Category 5 is expected to be the strongest storm in the country’s history.
Some vehicles are loaded with plywood as residents make final preparations. The government issued mandatory evacuation orders Sunday evening for several vulnerable coastal communities, including parts of Kingston.
There’s been light rain with some gusts of wind.
At the hotel where a CNN field crew is staying, exterior doors have been boarded up with sand bags piled in front to help combat the water expected to pour on the city overnight.
Kingston’s geography is like a bowl and many residents told CNN they fear the island’s beautiful mountains will also funnel great amounts of rain into the city.
Jamaican minister warns public not to cross flooded gullies
Jamaican Minister Robert Morgan warned the public not to cross flooded gullies on Monday as Hurricane Melissa looms, threatening to bring torrential rain and flash flooding to the island.
Over the weekend, workers in Jamaica’s capital Kingston dredged as much trash and silt as they could from the bottom of Sandy Gully, an approximately 20 km long waterway snaking along the city’s western flank.
When Melissa brings its months’ worth of rain as it passes over Jamaica, the swollen, debris-filled gully could knock out bridges, splitting Kingston in two.
“We’ve had historical evidence of persons in very powerful vehicles seeking to traverse gullies. And they lost the competition,” Morgan said at a press conference while urging the public to report damage to Jamaica’s authorities.
Jamaica improved infrastructure after Hurricane Gilbert, but its never been tested by winds like Melissa's
Melissa may well be the most powerful hurricane to hit Jamaica since 1988, when at least 40 people were killed in the wake of Hurricane Gilbert.
Authorities have replenished the electricity grid since then and reinforced housing, according to Matthew Samuda, Jamaica’s minister of water, environment and climate change.
“We’re certainly better prepared than we would have been in the ’80s,” he told CNN on Monday. “But when you speak about 160 mph winds, we’ve never tested our new infrastructure in that regard.” Gilbert had 135 mph winds when it made landfall on the island.
Hurricane Melissa, which currently has 165 mph winds, is the 45th Category 5 hurricane on record in the Atlantic and the third Category 5 storm this season. Storm surges — a rise in water level caused by a strong storm’s wind pushing water onshore — could peak between nine to 13 feet.
Watch: Waves and wind lash Jamaica as Hurricane Melissa approaches
Powerful winds whip up along Jamaica’s coastline Monday as Hurricane Melissa closes in.
Jamaican government minister urges residents to heed evacuation orders
A senior government minister in Jamaica has called on people to follow mass evacuation orders, ahead of what could be the most ferocious storm to hit the country in decades.
Matthew Samuda, the minister of water, environment and climate change, implored residents to travel to shelters and reach high ground on Monday, as the government braced for Hurricane Melissa — the 45th Category 5 hurricane on record in the Atlantic.
Communities on the coasts will be particularly exposed to destructive winds, catastrophic flooding and life-threatening storms — and seventy percent of the Jamaican population live within five kilometers of coasts, Samuda said.
The government has erected 800 shelters across the country, according to Samuda. Meanwhile, crews from the national bus service, the country’s defense forces and disaster preparedness unit are mobilizing mass evacuations.
“Go to the shelters. Go to higher ground because this can take lives,” he said.
Melissa puts on a lightning show
Melissa’s almost perfectly circular, clear eye is an obvious sign of the hurricane’s tremendous power.
The eye of a hurricane is an area of relatively calm weather surrounded by the storm’s fiercest winds – the eyewall. Melissa’s eyewall was sparking with lightning this morning, indicating a lot of energetic thunderstorm activity.
Constant thunderstorm activity often a sign of a strengthening hurricane.
Melissa strengthens again
Hurricane Melissa is still strengthening as it crawls toward Jamaica late Monday morning.
Melissa now has sustained winds of 165 mph, according to the National Hurricane Center. That’s a 5 mph increase from earlier this morning.
The Category 5 hurricane’s center is 145 miles southwest of Kingston, Jamaica, as of 11 a.m. ET. It’s drifting to the west at just 3 mph.
Melissa is slow, even by human standards
Melissa has been tracking at what’s considered a human’s slow walking pace of just 2 to 3 mph since late last week. It’s moved just 150 miles since Thursday afternoon, or about the distance between New York City and Baltimore.
The average forward speed of a hurricane where Melissa is located is about 10 to 11 mph, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Hurricane Research Division.
Melissa’s slow movement over warm water that extends deep into the ocean along with improving wind conditions high in the atmosphere allowed it to explode in strength over the weekend and Monday.
Warming ocean water from climate change has caused the rapid intensification of hurricanes to become more likely.
Here's what Melissa looks like from space
The sun rose to reveal a terrifying image of Category 5 Hurricane Melissa Monday morning. The center of the monstrous hurricane was just over 100 miles from the southern coast of Jamaica, but its clouds and storms had completely obscured the island from view.
Melissa’s center is easy to spot, just look for the eye – the clear space amid all the cloudiness.
Has a Category 5 hurricane ever hit Jamaica?
In short, no, not in recorded history.
Since reliable records began in 1851, no Category 5 hurricane has ever made landfall in Jamaica. The strongest known storm to affect the island was Hurricane Gilbert in 1988, which approached from the east as a Category 4.
Gilbert remains Jamaica’s benchmark hurricane. It destroyed more than 100,000 homes, wiped out power and communications, and killed 45 people.
When the storm's worst will arrive
Tropical storm conditions are already happening in Jamaica as rain bands from Melissa swirl into the island. Wind-whipped periods of heavy rain like this will continue much of the day. That means the threat of catastrophic and life-threatening flooding and numerous landslides has already developed and will continue through Tuesday.
The most extreme wind and storm surge impacts will arrive this evening into early Tuesday as Melissa turns north. “Extensive infrastructural damage” and “long-lasting power and communication outages” are among the devastating wind impacts the hurricane center has warned about.
Storm surge could reach heights of 9 to 13 feet above ground level near and east of where Melissa’s center crosses the coast. Large waves will pile onto the surge’s destructive potential in low-lying areas.
Evacuations ordered in Jamaica
The Jamaican government issued mandatory evacuation orders Sunday evening for several vulnerable coastal communities, including parts of Kingston, as Melissa intensifies on its approach to the Caribbean nation.
“Do not venture out of your safe shelter,” the National Hurricane Center warned Monday morning.
“Catastrophic and life-threatening flash flooding and numerous landslides are likely today through Tuesday. Destructive winds, especially in the mountains, will begin by this evening, leading to extensive infrastructural damage, long-lasting power and communication outages, and isolated communities.”
The latest forecast
Jamaica peak impacts: Wind-whipped bands of rain are spreading across the island so the threat of catastrophic flooding rain and landslides is underway. The most devastating wind and storm surge impacts are expected to develop Monday evening into early Tuesday. The worst of the winds should ease by late Tuesday.
After Jamaica: Melissa is still expected to be a major hurricane when it roars over eastern Cuba with damaging winds, storm surge and potentially catastrophic flooding rain Tuesday night into early Wednesday. The central and southern Bahamas and Turks and Caicos will see their worst impacts during the daytime on Wednesday. Bermuda could be hit by a weakening Melissa Thursday night into early Friday.
Third Category 5 of 2025
Melissa has joined Erin and Humberto from earlier this season as the third hurricane to hit Category 5 strength. Only the 2005 season has had more Category 5 hurricanes with four.
Melissa is forecast to become the first Category 5 landfall in the Atlantic Basin since Dorian roared into the Bahamas in 2019.
There have been 32 Category 5 hurricanes in the Atlantic since the use of satellites began in 1966, with 13 of those having formed in the past nine years.
How much rain will Jamaica receive?
Jamaica could see 15 to 30 inches of rain, with isolated pockets near 40 inches in the island’s mountains.
“Catastrophic flash flooding and numerous landslides are likely,” from that much rain, the National Hurricane Center warned.
Why Melissa’s southern approach could worsen storm surge
Hurricane Melissa is taking a rare route from the south toward Jamaica. That angle matters.
Most major hurricanes that hit Jamaica approach from the east. Melissa’s southern track means its strongest winds will drive water directly into the island’s south-facing coast, where Kingston Harbour, Old Harbour Bay and the Norman Manley International Airport sit just above sea level.
The National Hurricane Center warns of 9 to 13 feet of storm surge along the south shore — enough to inundate entire neighborhoods, especially where the coastline curves inward and traps water.
It’s not just strength, but also duration that poses extra danger. The surge could last for hours. Melissa’s slow northward crawl will keep water piling up, with large waves pushing it even farther inland.
