Hurricane Melissa is a warning – why violent storms are increasingly catching the world off guard

By Alexander Baker, Research Scientist, National Centre for Atmospheric Science, University of Reading
Liz Stephens, Professor of Climate Risks and Resilience, University of Reading

Hurricane Melissa is tearing through the Caribbean, bringing record-breaking wind and torrential rain to Jamaica – the island’s first ever category 5 landfall. What makes Melissa so alarming isn’t just its size and strength, but the speed with which it became so powerful. In a single day, it exploded from a moderate storm into a major hurricane with 170mph winds.

Scientists call this “rapid intensification”. As the planet warms, this violent strengthening is becoming more common. These storms…

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