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Winds of Melissa's Strength Now 5 Times More Frequent Due to Climate Change
6 Nov
Summary
- Winds of Melissa's strength 5 times more frequent due to climate crisis
- Melissa caused $6 billion in damages, a third of Jamaica's GDP
- Climate change increased Melissa's wind speeds by 7% and rainfall by 16%
On October 28, 2025, Hurricane Melissa, the most powerful storm ever to hit Jamaica, crunched into the island nation as a category five hurricane with winds up to 185 mph. The savage strength of Melissa was exacerbated by the overheated air and ocean, caused by the heat-trapping emissions from the burning of fossil fuels.
An international team of scientists has determined that climate change increased Melissa's maximum wind speeds by 7% and extreme rainfall by 16%. Events such as the five days of pounding rainfall in Jamaica from Melissa are now about 30% more intense and twice as likely due to today's altered climate, which is about 1.3°C hotter than the pre-industrial average.
The storm wiped out homes, businesses, crops and livelihoods, costing damages estimated to be equivalent to around a third of the island nation's GDP. The hurricane displaced hundreds of thousands of people as it continued on to hit Cuba, with its ferocious winds causing damage as far as the Dominican Republic and Haiti. At least 61 people have died as a result.
"What we see with Hurricane Melissa and other recent monster storms is that they are becoming so intense that they will soon push millions of people beyond the limits of adaptation," said Friederike Otto, a climate scientist at Imperial College London. "Unless we stop burning coal, oil and gas, we will see more and more countries reaching these limits."
