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Hurricane Melissa

Jamaica EM raised damage estimates to 9 billion USD and may go higher. Definitely a lot of sheet metal in the debris so many structures with
sheet metal rooves. Failure to a substantial number of masonry buildings even inland.

Destroyed Belmont 7th adventist church and a minibus rolled uphill on its side.


Destroyed forest and downed power poles.. Luana to Crawford


Taking them a while to get power back on.
 
This is a drive-through of the worst affected areas from Melissa - not all areas this bad but this is quite bad.

General areas (towns) are identified throughout the drive. (St. James, Hanover, Westmoreland, St. Elizabeth parishes), towns of Anchovy, Chichester, Whithorn, Water Works, Ferris Cross, Cave, Bluefields, Belmont, Auchindown, Whitehouse, Crawford, Brompton through to Black River.
 
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jiharris0220 said:
Josh posted his video documentation of Melissa.
Click to expand...

That roar/screaming of the wind in the eyewall is unlike anything I've ever seen from a TC. Puts some of the more infamous previous eyewall videos to shame.
 
tornado examiner said:
Melissa now officially tied for Allen as the fastest wind speeds in an Atlantic hurricane. 190mph
Click to expand...
Hasn't the idea been floated that it might have been over that? I don't know much about hurricanes so I don't really know what the "limit" of maximum wind speeds is in that regard.
 
The two most surprising things about the Melissa TCR:
1. It didn't drop the pressure even lower (lots of evidence for a peak around 890mb)
2. It kept the landfall pressure below 900mb (Josh Morgerman's data looked like it would rule a sub-900mb strike out given his location)
 
Central Ohio Wx said:
Hasn't the idea been floated that it might have been over that? I don't know much about hurricanes so I don't really know what the "limit" of maximum wind speeds is in that regard.
Click to expand...
The theoretical max intensity possible for a tropical cyclone is something close to Patricia (2015) or Tip (1979). Patricia had winds of 215 mph and Tip had a pressure of 870 mb. Both values are the highest recorded for wind speed and pressure respectively. Therefore, it is reasonable to assume that the absolute max a tropical cyclone can reach is something slightly stronger than that. Regardless, Melissa is about as strong as a hurricane as you will ever see in the Atlantic Ocean because it is tied with Allen 1980 in terms of wind speed (190 mph) and there are only a few other hurricanes that have had a pressure lower than Melissa (892 mb). The record goes to Wilma of 2005 which had a pressure of 882 mb.
 
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