Melissa, Category 5 and Hurricane Center
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Article last updated: Monday, Oct. 27, 2025, 5 p.m. ET
Only 81 hurricanes have struck as Category 4 or higher since 1851, or about one every other year on average. A couple have crippled multiple points at that strength. Irma, in 2017, managed to hit five countries as a Category 4 or 5 — the most of any storm in the Atlantic.
Hurricane Melissa was at Category 4 early Sunday and forecast to be at Category 5 over the Caribbean in the next 24 hours as it heads for a Jamaica landfall, forecasters said. The storm, expected to cause life-threatening flooding and landslides ...