Hurricane Melissa, which claimed at least 95 lives last fall, got an upgrade from the National Hurricane Center in a post-season review.

The final report released by the National Hurricane Center this week confirmed something that many of us suspected. Hurricane Melissa (2025) is now tied for the strongest Atlantic Ocean hurricane on record.

Hurricane Melissa's maximum sustained windspeeds were the strongest recorded in the Atlantic basin in 46 years, with a newly released National Hurricane Center (NHC) analysis confirming the storm produced some of the most extreme winds ever measured in the Atlantic, matching all‑time sustained wind records and shattering long‑standing benchmarks for hurricane intensity.