A US Air Force plane from the 53rd Weather Reconnaissance Squadron, known as the Hurricane Hunters, flew straight into the eye of Hurricane Melissa, a Category 5 “catastrophic” storm now barreling toward Jamaica.
Footage captured from inside Melissa’s eye offers a rare glimpse of the hurricane’s “stadium effect,” with towering walls of clouds encircling a calm centre, one of the most dramatic sights ever recorded from within a storm.
Hurricane Melissa was packing sustained winds of up to 175 mph (282 kph) on Monday afternoon, as the slow-moving Category 5 storm was on course to barrel into Jamaica, in what could be the largest on record for the Caribbean island.
This footage from inside the eye of Category 5 Hurricane Melissa might be the most jaw-dropping video ever captured of a hurricane’s eye, showcasing the infamous “stadium effect." pic.twitter.com/AEhj2g2Ban
— Colin McCarthy (@US_Stormwatch) October 27, 2025
As of 2 pm (1800 GMT), Melissa was a "catastrophic" storm, the strongest possible on the Saffir-Simpson scale, according to the US National Hurricane Centre (NHC).
The NHC expects Melissa to move over Jamaica late Monday or in the early hours of Tuesday, cross eastern Cuba the following night and move over the Bahamas and Turks and Caicos by Wednesday.
The storm's slow movement over unusually tepid Caribbean water had contributed to its ballooning size and strength, NHC forecasters said, threatening Jamaica with days of never-before-seen catastrophic winds and as much as 3 feet of rain.
Melissa’s wind-span is currently larger than the length of Jamaica, an island roughly the size of Connecticut and whose main airports sit very close to sea level.
Hours after ordering mandatory evacuations for parts of southern Jamaica, including the historic town of Port Royal, Prime Minister Andrew Holness called for foreign support and warned of damage to farmland, homes, and infrastructure, including bridges, roads, ports, and airports.
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