Latest Hurricane News

Melissa 'Could Be The Strongest Direct Landfall' In Jamaica Since Records Have Been Kept, Says The NHC

Jamaica is bracing for potentially its strongest storm to ever impact the island, as the slow-moving, major Category 5 hurricane closes in.

Hurricane Melissa: From Formation To Devastation

There has been rather strong language used when communicating Melissa’s impact to Jamaica, and rightfully so.

The National Hurricane Center warned Tuesday morning, “Total structure failure is possible near the path of Melissa’s center. Along the southern coast, life-threatening storm surge and damaging waves are expected through the day. Failure to act may result in serious injury or loss of life.”

Melissa is expected to make landfall as a Category 5 storm, which would be the first landfall of this magnitude since Hurricane Dorian in 2019.

There will be catastrophic winds, rainfall, mudslides and impacts from Melissa.

This is a satellite image of Hurricane Melissa taken at 11 a.m. on Sunday, October 26, 2025.

The key message here is that Jamaica will face its strongest storm ever, and the fact that it's moving at a snail’s pace, will make conditions worse.

(MORE: Get the latest information and forecast track here.)

Jamaica’s History of Direct Landfalls

This statement caused us to dig a little deeper into the history of direct hurricane landfalls Jamaica has experienced in the past.

While Jamaica has had many close calls and brushes with storms, the direct impacts from hurricanes have been surprisingly few.

This map shows the hurricanes that have made landfall on Jamaica since 1950.
(NOAA)

Since 1950, the island has faced direct hurricane hits three times.

1951 - Hurricane Charlie - Category 3
1988 - Hurricane Gilbert - Category 3
2012 - Hurricane Sandy - Category 1

There have been nearly a dozen other hurricane direct hits to Jamaica that date back to 1880, however, most of those are unreliable since those storms occurred prior to satellite observations, and none of them were stronger than Category 3.

Major Impacts To Jamaica That Weren’t Direct Hits

While Jamaica has been fairly lucky when it comes to direct hits from major hurricanes, they have faced significant impacts, by powerful brushes with storms.

This image shows several major hurricanes that have resulted in significant impact across Jamaica that never made landfall on the island.
(NOAA)

Hurricane Beryl: Just last year, the 2024 season brought incredible damage as Hurricane Beryl roared just south of Jamaica as a Category 4 storm.

Although the eye never made landfall, there was widespread flooding and damaged buildings including Kingston's Normal Manley International Airport.

Tourists were stranded, power outages were widespread and at least 500 people were in shelters as the storm lashed the island.

Hurricane Dean: In 2007, Dean also passed about 25 miles to the south of Jamaica as a Category 4 storm, causing significant damage to several parishes along the island’s southern coast.

Reports of damage to crops, homes and hospitals were reported, as well as interruption of power and communication lines.

The storm brought a foot of rain to some of the hardest hit areas.

Hurricane Ivan: In 2004, Hurricane Ivan ripped just south of Jamaica, following a similar track as Beryl.

The storm passed as a Category 4, resulting in more than $35 billion in damage. There was widespread damage, leaving residents without running water for weeks, and left dozens dead.