"When I look at the cloud pattern, I will tell you as a meteorologist and professional-and a person-it is beautiful, but it is terrifying,"
"I know what is underneath those clouds."
"That record's been in place for 90 years now,"
"It would be a pretty big deal if that fell."
Hurricane Melissa rapidly intensified into a Category 5 storm and is making landfall in Jamaica. Minimum central pressure dropped to 901 millibars early Tuesday and further to 892 mb by noon, indicating exceptional strength. That pressure is lower than Hurricane Katrina's peak and could tie the 1935 Labor Day hurricane as the most intense landfall by pressure. The storm continued intensifying unusually as it approached elevated terrain, which normally weakens storms. Meteorologists described the cloud pattern as beautiful but terrifying and warned of the storm's underlying destructive potential. If the storm makes landfall at the recorded pressure, it would mark a historic intensity milestone.
Read at WIRED
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