Hurricane Melissa made landfall in Jamaica with 185 mph winds and up to 40 inches of rain expected.
* Hurricane Melissa made landfall in Jamaica as a catastrophic Category 5 storm, the strongest ever recorded in the nation's history.
* Melissa is tied for the strongest Atlantic-basin landfall by wind speed and is among the most intense storms on record by pressure.
* After hitting Jamaica, the storm made a second landfall in Cuba and is forecast to move toward the Bahamas and Bermuda.
Category 5 Hurricane Melissa sped up early Tuesday, Oct. 28, making landfall in Jamaica in the early afternoon, before making a second landfall in Cuba early Wednesday, Oct. 29.
Torrential downpours produced between 15 to 30 inches of rain, with as much as 40 inches of rain in isolated locations, contributing to life-threatening landslides in the island's mountainous terrain as the hurricane moves over the island, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said.
"Melissa will go down in history as one of the slowest and one of the strongest October hurricanes on record in the Atlantic basin," AccuWeather Lead Hurricane Expert Alex DaSilva said in an email.
AccuWeather warns that people in western Jamaica "could be stranded for days or weeks."
"It will be incredibly difficult for emergency aid and resources to reach the hardest hit area," AccuWeather Chief Meteorologist Jonathan Porter said in a statement.
Power was out for about a third of Jamaica even before Melissa made landfall, many homes and buildings have been reported destroyed, and AccuWeather's preliminary damage and economic loss estimate is $22 billion.
At least seven deaths across the Caribbean have been attributed to the dangerous hurricane as of early Wednesday, Oct. 28. No updates to the death toll have been reported since the storm made landfall, though Jamaican emergency officials said late Tuesday that more than 15,000 people were sheltering in place.
Just how strong did Hurricane Melissa get?
Hurricane Melissa is strongest hurricane to make landfall in Jamaica
Melissa broke the record for the strongest hurricane landfall in Jamaica, surpassing Hurricane Gilbert (1988), which had sustained winds of 130 mph. It is also the only Category 5 storm to ever hit Jamaica.
Hurricane Melissa ties strongest-ever landfall in the Atlantic basin
Preliminary data shows Hurricane Melissa made landfall in Jamaica as a Category 5 with sustained winds of about 185 mph and an estimated minimum central pressure of 892 mb.
That ties it for the strongest recorded Atlantic‑basin landfall in overall intensity, alongside the 1935 Labor Day hurricane. While Hurricane Dorian (2019) recorded the same peak wind speeds at landfall, its higher central pressure of 910 mb means Melissa was slightly stronger in overall intensity.
Melissa is among only three Atlantic storms to make landfall with winds estimated at 185 mph.
Melissa ties for third lowest pressure No. 3 for lowest pressure
Melissa 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 surface pressure lower than 900 millibars.
MB stands for millibars, a unit of atmospheric pressure. It is a key indicator of a hurricane's strength: The lower the millibar reading, the stronger the storm. That's because a lower pressure inside the storm's eye creates a larger pressure difference with the surrounding atmosphere, driving stronger winds.
Melissa ties second for highest sustained wind speeds
Only nine Atlantic hurricanes have reached peak sustained winds of 180 mph or higher. Melissa joins this elite group with winds of 185 mph.
Hurricane Patricia (2015), which struck Mexico's Pacific coast, is recognized as the most powerful tropical cyclone on record worldwide in terms of maximum sustained winds, reaching 215 mph.
Lowest pressure in a late-season hurricane
Melissa also set a new benchmark for intensity this late in the season.
"Melissa surpassed the lowest minimum central pressure ever recorded for a hurricane this late in the season, another sign of just how intense this storm is," AccuWeather's DaSilva said.
Where is Hurricane Melissa headed next? Did Hurricane Melissa make landfall in Cuba?
Special note on the NHC cone: The forecast track shows the most likely path of the center of the storm. It does not illustrate the full width of the storm or its impacts, and the center of the storm is likely to travel outside the cone up to 33% of the time.
Hurricane Melissa summary, as of 8 a.m., Oct. 29:
* Location: 45 miles west of Guantanamo, Cuba; 205 miles south of the Central Bahamas
* Maximum sustained winds: 105 mph
* Movement: northeast at 14 mph
* Pressure: 968 mb
Hurricane Melissa made landfall in southeastern Cuba near the town of Chivirico around 3:10 a.m. ET, according to the NHC.Melissa is expected to pick up speed and move northeastward over the ne
Will Hurricane Melissa impact the US?
Melissa is expected to pick up speed and move northeastward over the next few days. It's expected to remain a powerful hurricane when it moves across the Bahamas later Wednesday and passes near Bermuda on Thursday night, Oct. 29-30.
Stay informed. Get weather alerts via text
Brandi D. Addison covers weather across the United States as the Weather Connect Reporter for the USA TODAY Network. She can be reached at [email protected]. Find her on Facebook here.
Contributing: Jennifer Borresen, Ramon Padilla, Stephen J. Beard, Dinah Voyles Pulver