"Where to start? Every meteorologist I've seen discussing this or have talked to has just been sort of agog at almost every aspect of this storm. So it's pretty rare to have a Category 5 in the Atlantic Ocean anyway. There have been, I think, about 45 since recordkeeping started in around 1851. And so the fact that you're reaching that rarefied territory is a big deal. It was the third Category 5 in this one hurricane season."
"And we've only ever had one season that had more than two Category 5s, and that was the really blockbuster season of 2005, which had Katrina and Rita, and that one actually had four Category 5 storms. So the company you're talking about there alreadyand it wasn't just a Category 5; it reached an intensity and it reached peak wind speeds that are typically something we talk about more with super typhoons in the West Pacific."
Meteorologists expressed astonishment at almost every aspect of Hurricane Melissa. Category 5 hurricanes in the Atlantic are rare, with about 45 recorded since 1851. Melissa became the third Category 5 of its season, joining only one other season (2005) that had more than two Category 5s; 2005 produced four. Melissa reached peak sustained winds of 185 miles per hour, far above the Category 5 threshold of 157 mph. Such peak winds are more common in West Pacific super typhoons, a basin that can support stronger storms. Melissa also displayed unusually perfect symmetry at peak intensity.
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