(CNN) - Hurricane Melissa made landfall around 1 p.m. ET Tuesday near New Hope, Jamaica, as a 185 mph Category 5 storm, according to the National Hurricane Center.
The hurricane’s winds of 185 mph at the moment of landfall make it the strongest storm on record to smash into the country. Melissa is also one of the strongest hurricanes on record to make landfall in the Atlantic basin, tied with only two other storms – 2019’s Dorian and 1935’s Labor Day hurricane.
Melissa is the strongest storm to make landfall anywhere in the Atlantic basin since 2019’s Hurricane Dorian. That storm had winds of 185 mph when it slammed into the Bahamas’ Abaco Islands.
Previously, the strongest storm to make landfall in Jamaica was 1988’s devastating Hurricane Gilbert. That storm was a Category 4 hurricane

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