First Impacts As Melissa Slams Jamaica

Hurricane Melissa has just tied the all-time strongest landfall on record in the Atlantic Basin as it crashed ashore in Jamaica at Category 5 intensity.

Melissa made landfall around 1 p.m. EDT Tuesday near New Hope, Jamaica, according to the National Hurricane Center.

This landfall tied the following long-standing Atlantic Basin records for most intense landfall by both pressure and wind speed:

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- Lowest pressure: The Labor Day 1935 Florida Keys hurricane (892 millibars)

- Strongest sustained winds: Dorian 2019 and the Labor Day 1935 hurricane (185 mph)

How Rare Are Cat 5 Landfalls?

Category 5 landfalls in the Atlantic Basin are rare (thankfully), but perhaps not as rare as you might think.

Since 1924, 17 different Atlantic Basin hurricanes have made at least one Cat 5 landfall. 2017’s Hurricane Irma made four separate Cat 5 landfalls from Barbuda to northern Cuba.

The last time this happened was just over six years ago, when Hurricane Dorian reached its peak intensity as it slammed into Great Abaco Island in the Bahamas on Sept. 1, 2019. Dorian then slowed to an agonizing crawl, dealing a catastrophic blow to the northwest Bahamas.

Lowest Pressure

The strongest hurricanes in Atlantic Basin history span from the Great Depression to present day.

Improvements in technology, including satellites and Hurricane Hunter aircraft instruments, make it challenging to draw apples-to-apples comparisons of hurricanes in recent years with those in the 19th and early 20th century.

There are two primary metrics to rank a hurricane's intensity.

One of these metrics is the lowest pressure measured at the surface. Basically, the lower the pressure the stronger the hurricane.

Meteorologists speak of pressure in units called millibars, rather than inches, of mercury. An average pressure at sea level is about 1,013 millibars.

Melissa currently is tied for third strongest on record by pressure, with the 1935 Labor Day hurricane, behind only 1988's Gilbert and 2005's Wilma. Only seven Atlantic hurricanes have had a central pressure lower than 900 millibars.

1. Wilma (2005): 882 millibars

2. Gilbert (1988): 888 millibars

3. Melissa (2025), "Labor Day" Hurricane (1935): 892 millibars

5 (tie). Rita (2005): 895 millibars

5 (tie). Milton (2024): 895 millibars

7. Allen (1980): 899 millibars

Melissa is also 3 millibars stronger (lower) than last October's Hurricane Milton when it reached peak strength over the Gulf well before landfall.

Wilma set this record in October 2005 while over the western Caribbean Sea. Wilma's extreme intensity also set a record for the smallest documented eye size, only 2.3 miles wide. According to NOAA's Hurricane Research Division, an average eye is 20 to 40 miles wide.

The 1935 Labor Day hurricane was the only one of those that made landfall in the U.S. at peak intensity. It ransacked the Florida Keys with maximum sustained winds estimated at 185 mph and a storm surge reaching 20 feet. It remains America's strongest hurricane landfall on record.

Its winds and surge caused 408 deaths, primarily among World War I veterans who were working on construction in the area.

Highest Winds

Another metric used to rank hurricanes is their peak sustained winds. In most cases today, these winds are measured by reconnaissance aircraft missions, since these top-end hurricanes most often happen either in the Caribbean Sea, Gulf, or southwest Atlantic Ocean within reach of these aircraft.

Melissa currently is tied for second on this list with four other hurricanes. Only nine Atlantic Basin hurricanes have had peak sustained winds of 180 mph or higher. This list includes all the hurricanes in the lowest pressure list, plus several other notable storms.

1. Allen (1980): 190 mph

2. Melissa (2025), "Labor Day" (1935), Gilbert (1988), Wilma (2005) and Dorian (2019): 185 mph

6. Mitch (1998), Rita (2005), Irma (2017) and Milton (2024): 180 mph

(MORE: The History Of Category 5 Atlantic Hurricanes)

While Allen holds the top spot, the most recent entries into this list before Melissa were Milton in 2024 and Dorian in 2019.

World Records

If we expand out from the Atlantic Basin, the global records for lowest pressure and winds are incredible.

The lowest surface pressure measured in any tropical cyclone was 870 millibars in Super Typhoon Tip in 1979. That's 12 millibars lower (stronger) than 2005's Hurricane Wilma.

Tip was also the largest tropical cyclone on record, whose size would blanket much of the western U.S.

The global sustained wind speed record happened more recently. Hurricane Patricia reached maximum sustained winds of 215 mph off the coast of southwest Mexico in October 2015. It was also just 2 millibars shy of tying Tip for the global low pressure record, bottoming out at 872 millibars.

Jonathan Erdman is a senior meteorologist at weather.com and has been covering national and international weather since 1996. Extreme and bizarre weather are his favorite topics. Reach out to him on Bluesky, X (formerly Twitter) and Facebook.