"Catastrophic" Hurricane Melissa makes landfall in Jamaica

Hurricane Melissa made landfall in Jamaica as a Category 5 storm on Tuesday — bringing an "EXTREMELY DANGEROUS AND LIFE-THREATENING SITUATION," per the National Hurricane Center.The big picture: Officials confirmed three storm-related deaths on Monday evening, before the monster hurricane had made landfall in the Caribbean island nation. Jamaica's Prime Minister Andrew Holness said on Facebook ahead of the strongest storm to make landfall in the country in 174 years, that the country was likely to experience hurricane-force winds, heavy rainfall and flooding.Background: The storm killed three people in Haiti and another person in the Dominican Republic last week.Melissa rapidly intensified into a Category 4 hurricane over the weekend, with its maximum sustained winds increasing from 70 mph to 140 mph in 18 hours before further strengthening into a Category 5 storm, with wind speeds of up to 185 mph, according to a Tuesday update.Between the lines: "During Melissa's rapid intensification the storm drifted slowly over exceptionally warm ocean waters that were 1.4°C (2.5°F) warmer than average — these conditions were made up to 700 times more likely because of human-caused climate change," per analysis from research group Climate Central."These unusually warm ocean temperatures, combined with overall tropical climate warming, are projected to have strengthened Melissa's top wind speed by about 10 mph, and increased its potential damages by up to 50%." Screenshot: Climate Central/XGo deeper: Climate change strengthened Hurricanes Helene and MiltonEditor's note: This is a developing story. Check back for updates.

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