Hurricane Melissa continues to move away from Bermuda after whipping up tropical storm force winds there. The National Hurricane Center expects Melissa to maintain hurricane force winds into the weekend, but structurally, the storm should become extratropical later today.
When a hurricane becomes extratropical, it loses its warm core and transforms into a larger, faster-moving storm system that can produce widespread high winds, heavy rain, and coastal flooding. This transition, called extratropical transition, occurs as the storm moves over colder waters and interacts with mid-latitude weather patterns like fronts and troughs. While it may appear weaker at the core, it becomes a significant threat over a much broader area, sometimes re-strengthening due to new energy sources.
Based on the latest forecast from the National Hurricane Center, the storm will continue moving north and east over the Central Atlantic Ocean. By early Saturday morning, the center should be southeast of Newfoundland, Canada. By early Tuesday morning, the storm system should be south of Iceland.
From October 25 to 27, Melissa became better organized and rapidly intensified into a Category 5 hurricane before making landfall near New Hope, Jamaica, at its peak intensity, on October 28. Melissa emerged from the north coast of Jamaica later that day, weakened, and made landfall near Chivirico, Cuba, the next day.
As of today, at least 59 deaths have been attributed to Melissa, including 29 from flooding and landslides in Haiti and 22 in Jamaica. There are at least 11 people missing in the Caribbean in the wake of the storm; preliminary damage figures suggest damages in excess of $48 billion have occurred due to the storm, with most of the destruction on Jamaica.
