Hurricane Melissa devastated islands in the Caribbean in late October in 2025. Now, four months later, the National Hurricane Center has completed the post-storm analysis of Melissa, finding that the winds reached 190 mph, tying it with Hurricane Allen for the strongest ever recorded in the Atlantic Basin’s history.
The folks at the National Hurricane Center concluded that Melissa reached a central pressure of 892 mb at its strongest, which lashed the western side of Jamaica with high winds, incredible storm surge, and prolonged rainfall. All of these factors contributed to 95 known fatalities as of the report, released February 26, 2026.
The origins trace back to a tropical wave emerging off of the western coast of Africa on October 13th. By midnight on the 26th, Melissa had rapidly developed into a major hurricane. With weak steering, the forecast track was HIGHLY uncertain. Even with this uncertainty, the forecast track was incredibly accurate by the National Hurricane Center (below)
What’s going to gain more attention is the upgrade to 190 mph winds. According to the National Hurricane Center, even though they didn’t directly observe the winds specifically:
“Based on a blend of satellite estimates, flight-level wind and dropsonde data”
This ties it with Hurricane Allen from 1980, which was the previous strongest hurricane recorded in the Atlantic Basin.
Official Report from the National Hurricane Center: READ IT HERE
Josh Morgerman reliving Melissa: WATCH IT HERE
