"As it bears down on Jamaica, Hurricane Melissa has become the third Category 5 storm of the 2025 Atlantic seasonjust the second season on record to ever see more than two Category 5 hurricanes. The only other Atlantic season to achieve this feat was the blockbuster one of 2005, which featured four Category 5 storms: Emily, Katrina, Rita and Wilma."
"READ MORE: Hurricane Science Has a Lot of JargonHere's What It All Means Melissa was able to reach its 185-mph maximum wind speed by taking advantage of exceptionally warm waters in the Caribbean Sea. It underwent extreme rapid intensification, strengthening from a 70-mph tropical storm last Saturday morning to a 140-mph Category 4 hurricane on Sundaytwice the rate of the official threshold of rapid intensification. (The storm strengthened further later on Sunday and again on Monday.) That level of stren"
Hurricane Melissa became the third Category 5 storm of the 2025 Atlantic season, making 2025 the second season on record with more than two Category 5 hurricanes. The only previous season with more than two Category 5 storms was 2005, which produced four such storms: Emily, Katrina, Rita and Wilma. Hurricanes are ranked by the Saffir-Simpson scale, with Category 1 starting at 74 mph and Category 5 at 157 mph. Melissa reached 185-mph maximum winds, the 45th Atlantic Category 5 since 1851. The storm exploited exceptionally warm Caribbean Sea waters and underwent extreme rapid intensification, strengthening from 70 mph to 140 mph in about a day and intensifying further.
Read at www.scientificamerican.com
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