SOUTHAMPTON PARISH, Bermuda – Bermuda is yet again under a hurricane threat this season as Hurricane Melissa is forecast to charge north, bringing dangerous winds and storm surge.
Hurricane Melissa has already left a trail of destruction across the Caribbean this week. The storm contributed to at least three dozen deaths across three countries before making landfall in Jamaica as a Category 5 storm with 185-mph winds, becoming tied for the third-most-intense pressure of an Atlantic hurricane on record at 892 millibars.
Melissa is maintaining strength as a Category 2 hurricane as it exits the Bahamas and is forecast to pass just to the northwest of Bermuda from late Thursday into Friday morning. A Hurricane Warning remains in effect for Bermuda.
“Preparations should be rushed to completion in Bermuda before tropical-storm-force winds reach the island later today,” the National Hurricane Center (NHC) warned Thursday morning.
This hurricane season, Bermuda faced impacts from back-to-back hurricanes, with hurricanes Humberto and Imelda passing very close to the island within the same week, but neither made a direct landfall.
The NHC is forecasting Melissa to pass off the western side of Bermuda on Thursday with winds around 105 mph.
Hurricane-force wind gusts and heavy rainfall from Melissa’s outer bands are expected in Bermuda beginning late Thursday and through the night. According to the NHC, coastal flooding from storm surge is possible.
FOX Weather Storm Specialist Mike Seidel is reporting Northhampton, Bermuda, where some of the worst conditions are possible by Thursday night.
The good news is that Melissa has continued to weaken after blasting the Caribbean and has significantly picked up speed. The hurricane was moving at between 3 and 8 mph earlier this week before making landfall in Jamaica. It’s forecast to be moving at around 45 mph when it passes Bermuda. At this rate, it will be racing by the island.
The full context of recovery in Jamaica is still being determined after Hurricane Melissa’s monster winds and heavy rain destroyed infrastructure, including extensive damage at the Montego Bay Airport.
Jamaican officials have reported at least four people were killed in St. Elizabeth Parish, where the storm made landfall, but a more complete assessment is ongoing.
FOX Weather Correspondent Robert Ray and his field team were in St. Ann Parish when Melissa’s winds ripped off winds and sliding glass doors. Widespread damage has been reported across western Jamaica.
FOX Weather Hurricane Specialist Bryan Norcross said the true strength of Hurricane Melissa will be determined through extensive analyses in the months to come, and it could be the strongest Atlantic landfalling hurricane in history.
Melissa currently ties as the strongest landfalling hurricane on record in the Atlantic Basin. The Labor Day hurricane in 1935 also had winds of 185 mph and a pressure of 892 millibars.
