With Hurricane Melissa's rapid intensification, the 2025 Atlantic hurricane season has produced three Category 5 hurricanes, which hasn't happened in a single season for 20 years. Melissa continues to make history as the third-strongest hurricane ever recorded in the Atlantic Basin.

Article last updated: Tuesday, Oct. 28, 2025, 2 p.m. ET

Matthew Cappucci, a senior meteorologist at MyRadar and storm chaser, spoke with NBC News’ Kate Snow about his experience flying into the eye of Hurricane Melissa aboard a NOAA aircraft and the concerns over the Category 5 storm making landfall.

It also marks the first time in 20 years that three or more Category 5 hurricanes have developed over the Atlantic Basin in one season. The last time was in 2005, when Hurricanes Emily, Katrina, Rita, and Wilma all reached Category 5—breaking a record.

Jamaica is bracing for potentially its strongest storm to ever impact the island, as the slow-moving, major Category 5 hurricane closes in. AccuWeather's Leslie Hudson reports from Lake County, FL, where 16 inches of rain in 6 hours triggered a rare flash flood emergency, washing out roads and flooding homes.

Melissa developed into a deadly Category 5 hurricane Monday, Oct. 27, and is expected to have historically catastrophic impacts on the northern Caribbean.

Track the latest forecasts for Hurricane Melissa with USA TODAY's storm tracker for Saturday, Oct. 25. The National Hurricane Center reports Melissa has strengthened into a hurricane in the Caribbean on Oct.

Melissa has already killed three people in Haiti and Jamaica each and one person in the Dominican Republic. United Nations staff are preparing to deploy to Cuba and Jamaica this week as the region nervously awaits landfall of Hurricane Melissa.