In 40 Years of Forecasting, I’ve Never Seen a Hurricane Like Melissa

Before Hurricane Melissa, the most damaging hurricane to hit Jamaica was Gilbert, which struck the island in September 1988. Gilbert was a Category 4 hurricane when it made landfall and caused tremendous damage from intense winds, storm surge and flooding. Tens of thousands were left homeless, and 49 people were killed.

At the time, I was working as a meteorology intern at a television station in St. Louis. I got most of my information about the storm from John Hope, a former National Hurricane Center forecaster who was The Weather Channel’s first hurricane expert (and one of its first meteorological stars). Back then, global warming was just beginning to become a focus of people who studied the atmosphere and the weather.

Forty years later, when I look at satellite imagery and other data on hurricanes and extreme weather, I often cannot believe my eyes. Most of these mind-boggling events have a potential link to climate change.

For Hurricane Melissa, the moment of disbelief came in stages. The first was the satellite images of the storm’s incredibly clear and warm eye in the.......... read more