Melissa is among three Atlantic hurricanes to make landfall with 185 mph winds. Another storm to do so was the Labor Day Hurricane of 1935.

Hurricane Melissa’s powerful winds and drenching rains devastated Jamaica. But is its wrath a sign that we need a new designation for monster storms?

Hurricane Hunters were forced to cut short their reconnaissance mission into the Category 5 Hurricane Melissa Monday morning, Oct. 27.

A Georgia Tech researcher says we may need more tools to measure the full impacts of strong hurricanes like Melissa.

Hurricane Melissa has often been described as a “monster hurricane.” In terms of intensity, that characterization is certainly accurate. However, when discussing a storm’s magnitude, it is important to distinguish between intensity and size.

The intensity of a hurricane is measured by its maximum sustained wind speed, and when that speed increases by at least 35 miles per hour in a 24-hour period — or roughly two categories on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale — meteorologists call that “rapid intensification.”

Hurricane Melissa now holds a place in Atlantic basin record books as one of the most powerful tropical cyclones to develop and make landfall. The storm became a hurricane at 11 a.m. Saturday with peak winds of 75 mph. Just 24 hours later, the storm's strength had nearly doubled with eyewall winds estimated at 140 mph.

Hotter-than-average Caribbean water made Hurricane Melissa stronger and wetter. Its part of a trend that scientists link back to climate change.