The hurricane Melissa advances over the Caribbean as the most powerful storm of 2025, with winds exceeding 280 km/h.
In particular, its rapid intensification from tropical storm to category 5 in less than 48 hours reflects an alarming pattern of climate change.
Warmer oceans are generating increasingly destructive cyclones, according to international organizations.
The threat of hurricane Melissa over the Caribbean
Jamaica, Haiti, the Dominican Republic, and Cuba are currently in the direct path of hurricane Melissa.
The storm has already passed through the first of these nations and is now approaching Cuba, at grade 3.
The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) labeled the phenomenon as “the storm of the century” for Jamaica, the first Caribbean country to receive its impact after reaching level 5 on the Saffir-Simpson scale.
Although Jamaican authorities reported this Tuesday that hurricane Melissa decreased to category 4, hours after making landfall, it caused damage to six hospitals and left roads flooded, downed power poles and trees, according to preliminary data.
In response, the United States National Hurricane Center (NHC) warns that residents should expect “destructive winds, storm surges, and catastrophic flooding”.
This Tuesday, approximately 50,000 people have already lost power in Jamaica, while the government estimates that millions could be affected.
The United Nations Children’s Fund (Unicef) estimates that at least 1.6 million children are at risk in the region.
What a category 5 hurricane means
The Saffir-Simpson scale classifies hurricanes from 1 to 5 based on the sustained wind speed: category 5 cyclones have winds exceeding 252 km/h.
According to National Geographic, these cause “a high percentage of homes to be destroyed” and affected areas to remain uninhabitable for weeks or months.
However, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) clarifies that this scale does not consider other deadly hazards such as flooding from heavy rains, giant waves, or associated tornadoes.
“These hazards require people to take protective measures, including evacuating vulnerable areas,” the U.S. agency states.
The link between hurricane Melissa and global warming
The WMO reports that category 5 hurricanes were rare until a few decades ago, but this situation is changing.
This is mainly explained by climate change and the increase in ocean temperature.
Melissa exemplifies this trend: it went from a tropical storm to a category 4 hurricane in less than 24 hours, continuing its intensification to level 5.
Climate Central, an independent scientific organization, reports that “hurricane Melissa rapidly intensified as it moved over exceptionally warm ocean waters.”
In particular, these waters are “approximately 1.4 °C warmer than average, something up to 700 times more likely due to human-induced climate change“.
This thermal anomaly could increase potential damage by 50%.
Meanwhile, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) found that “rising temperatures will make hurricanes slower, rainier, and more prone to rapid intensification”.
It should be noted that a rapid intensification is considered when a storm increases wind speed by 56 km/h in just 24 hours.
Melissa also moves slowly at about 5 km/h, which increases its destructive potential by prolonging exposure to wind and rain over affected areas.
The NOAA explains: “The warmer the ocean, the more fuel there is for hurricanes to intensify, as long as other atmospheric conditions are also favorable”.
Hurricane Milton, which hit Florida in October 2024, followed a similar pattern of explosive intensification, confirming this new climate reality in the region.
