Melissa: Cuba Next in the Path, 11:35pm

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The latest forecast, which hasn't changed much, is below. The storm restrengthened over water this evening and will slam into southeast Cuba Wednesday morning. 

The map below, in brown, shows the area that has experienced hurricane force (>75 mph winds).

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Within the past half-hour, the center of Melissa exited the coast of Jamaica just east of Montego Bay. The winds have "weakened" to a still severe 145 mph and the pressure has risen to 906 mb. The storm should be roughly this intensity or a little weaker when it arrives in Cuba. 

From Cuba, Melissa is forecast to sweep through the Turks & Cacaos Islands as well as the eastern Bahamas. There is also a hurricane watch for Bermuda. 

1:05pm. Landfall officially occurred at 1:03pm EDT. Based on Hurricane Hunter data, wind gusts to 200 mph possible in higher elevations of Jamaica near the coast. 

12:45am. Winds are 185 mph (!) and the central pressure is 892mb (!). The eye is moving inland through southwest Jamaica at this time. See satellite image below from 12:36pm.

Unbelievable photo from inside the eye. It was taken by one of the Hurricane Hunter crew. They had to linger inside the eye longer than usual due to an encounter with extreme turbulence. 

9:50am. Winds are now 180 mph with pressure 896 mb. One of the strongest hurricanes in the history of the Atlantic will make landfall shortly. Satellite image, using green tint so Jamaica shows better, was from 9:45.


-- original post at 8:45 --

Powerful Hurricane Melissa's eye is bearing down on west Jamaica. From there, it will strike far southeast Cuba and then across the Turks & Cacaos Islands. 

The eye is moving almost straight north (along the longitude line) toward west Jamaica with 175 mph winds. It will affect the resort areas of Montego Bay and Negril as it crosses the island. The winds will cause catastrophic damage similar to a tornado and there will be severe flooding. Power will be out weeks or months. 

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