Hurricane Melissa is in rare territory for an Atlantic storm, both in terms of its maximum sustained winds of 175 mph and its extremely low air pressure reading. However, there have been storms stronger than this one in the Atlantic Ocean Basin.
Some of them have occurred in just the past few years, such as Hurricanes Milton, Dorian and Irma, each of which had stronger maximum sustained winds than Melissa. Dorian’s maximum sustained winds peaked at 185 mph in 2019, while Milton and Irma maxed out at 180 mph.
Of all Atlantic storms, Hurricane Allen in 1980 is the one to beat – with top winds of 190 mph.
Using wind speed alone, Melissa is solidly among the top 20 strongest Atlantic hurricanes, with the potential to move up in ranking if it intensifies further overnight.
Ranked using its surface air pressure, the storm is even more impressive – it’s number 6 of the top 10 most intense storms since 1979 (when such reliable data began), according to Colorado State University hurricane researcher Philip Klotzbach.
In general, lower pressure equals a stronger storm, including wind speeds. Melissa, with a central pressure of 901 millibars thus far, is stronger than Katrina and stands in line only behind such notorious storms as Wilma and Rita.
