November 21, 2025
3 minute read
Hurricane Melissa's 252 mph gusts set a new wind record
Hurricane Melissa raged through the Caribbean last month as a Category 5 storm, and scientists have now confirmed its strongest gusts were approaching record speeds.
Hurricane Melissa was already one of the most powerful hurricanes ever recorded in the Atlantic Ocean – and now scientists have confirmed it has moved closer to superior status in new ways.
Newly released data shows Hurricane Melissa produced a wind gust of 252 mph, which is just 1 mph short of the fastest gust ever measured on Earth, according to the World Meteorological Organization, and 4 mph faster than the fastest gust ever measured in a tropical cyclone at sea.
The previous record-breaking storm, Typhoon Mega in 2010, was in the Pacific Ocean, where warmer waters typically allow the most powerful tropical cyclones to become slightly stronger than in the Atlantic Ocean. “It's actually quite surprising to see a sound that breaks this record,” says Holger Voehmel, an atmospheric scientist at the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder, Colorado, who worked with National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration meteorologists to ensure the measurement was not the result of instrument error.
About supporting science journalism
If you enjoyed this article, please consider supporting our award-winning journalism. subscription. By purchasing a subscription, you help ensure a future of influential stories about the discoveries and ideas shaping our world today.
LISTEN: Hurricane Melissa was one of the most powerful Atlantic storms on record. That's why
An NRD41 dropsonde similar to those dropped during Hurricane Melissa, with Hurricane Irma in the background. The probe drop technology was developed by the National Science Foundation's National Center for Atmospheric Research and is manufactured by Vaisala.
There is an important difference between these powerful wind gusts (short-lived gusts) and the sustained winds that determine a storm's rating on the Saffir-Simpson scale. This five category system is based on the strongest winds lasting one minute. Wind gusts do not need to persist and can therefore reach much higher speeds than sustained winds.
Hurricane Melissa's sustained winds reached 185 mph.which is only 5 mph short of the Atlantic Ocean record. He achieved such monstrous strength thanks to his slow journey through the abundant warm ocean waters.
Scientists are measuring wind speeds and other important data from the top of the storm to the Earth's surface using an instrument called a dropsonde, which was launched from a Hurricane Hunter aircraft.
Fehmel helped study previous potential record measurements. “I fully understand all the gory details of how these measurements are made,” he says. “I can look at it and see if there’s anything suspicious.” In one notable case, he helped show that the apparently record-breaking measurements of Hurricane Katrina in 2005 were merely an artifact of faulty instrumentation. But the sightings of Hurricane Melissa were confirmed. “Everything behaved exactly as intended,” he says.
The observations were not high enough to break the current record for the fastest wind ever measured on Earth: 253 mph, achieved by the 1996 tropical cyclone that hit Barrow Island in Australia. But Femel says that's an unfair comparison. The 1996 storm's record was 10 meters (33 ft) above ground. One from Hurricane Melissa rose 20 times higher above the ocean. Natural and man-made land features can direct wind in a way that speeds it up in a way that does not happen during a hurricane.*
In addition to these newly confirmed data, Hurricane Melissa was near a record in other respects: the hurricane reached a minimum central pressure of 892 millibars, making it the third strongest hurricane on record in the Atlantic. And the constant wind speed allowed him to take second place in the Atlantic.
Hurricane Melissa also broke records for its destruction: it was the strongest storm to ever make landfall in Jamaica and caused the second-highest recorded rainfall in the country since 2000.
“These storms need to be taken seriously,” Fehmel says. “It's a record-breaking sound and it's really amazing that we can see it. But there are also people on the ground who have been affected by it.”
*Editor's Note (11/21/25): This paragraph was edited after publication to correct the height at which the 1996 storm record was measured.
It's time to stand up for science
If you liked this article, I would like to ask for your support. Scientific American has been a champion of science and industry for 180 years, and now may be the most critical moment in that two-century history.
I was Scientific American I have been a subscriber since I was 12, and it has helped shape my view of the world. science always educates and delights me, instills a sense of awe in front of our vast and beautiful universe. I hope it does the same for you.
If you subscribe to Scientific Americanyou help ensure our coverage focuses on meaningful research and discovery; that we have the resources to report on decisions that threaten laboratories across the US; and that we support both aspiring and working scientists at a time when the value of science itself too often goes unrecognized.
In return you receive important news, fascinating podcastsbrilliant infographics, newsletters you can't missvideos worth watching challenging gamesand the world's best scientific articles and reporting. You can even give someone a subscription.
There has never been a more important time for us to stand up and show why science matters. I hope you will support us in this mission.
