Melissa strikes eastern Cuba as a major hurricane after ravaging western Jamaica

Hurricane Melissa, which devastated western Jamaica as one of the strongest hurricanes ever recorded, briefly restrengthened between Jamaica and Cuba late Tuesday before making a second landfall shortly after 3 a.m. ET Wednesday as a Category 3 hurricane about 40 miles west of Santiago de Cuba – the country’s second most populous city – in eastern Cuba.

3 days ago

Melissa takes aims at Jamaica as a monster Category 5 hurricane

Hurricane Melissa put on a rare show overnight, tipping the scales as a Category 5 hurricane by the predawn hours Monday while drifting only about 100 miles south of Jamaica over the deep, warm waters of the central Caribbean.

Melissa to strengthen and drift near or south of Jamaica as a major hurricane by Sunday

Tropical Storm Melissa grounded to a halt over the central Caribbean about 150 miles south of Jamaica and Haiti early Friday.

Melissa forecast to rapidly strengthen into a major hurricane this weekend

Tropical Storm Melissa continued to struggle early Thursday as it crawled several hundred miles south of Jamaica and Haiti over the central Caribbean.

Melissa to meander, raising the risk of significant flash flooding for the north-central Caribbean

Tropical Storm Melissa formed late Tuesday morning about 300 miles south of Haiti over the central Caribbean but remains disorganized as it contends with persistent wind shear.

Development likely this week in the Caribbean, but future path remains unclear

A tropical wave that moved into the eastern Caribbean on Sunday – designated Invest 98L by the National Hurricane Center on Saturday – is becoming increasingly organized and will likely become a tropical depression or tropical storm in the next day or two as it slows over the central Caribbean.

Looking ahead to next week in the Caribbean

A strong late-season tropical wave now moving through the central Atlantic could develop once it enters the Caribbean as upper-level winds turn increasingly conducive next week.

Atlantic ends the week on a quiet note

Since the basin reopened for business about a month ago following a bizarre 20-day drought with no active tropical systems through the traditional peak of the hurricane season, it’s managed to notch 6 of its 12 named storms and a full 60% of the season’s overall tropical activity as measured by the Accumulated Cyclone Energy or ACE.

Lorenzo limps along as the Atlantic takes a breath

Despite earlier forecasts showing Tropical Storm Lorenzo hanging around into the weekend, the unfriendly central Atlantic of mid October has done a number on it, and it’s no longer expected to survive the work week.