WxWatcher007

2:00 AM EDT Wed Oct 29 Location: 19.7°N 76.4°W Moving: NE at 10 mph Min pressure: 952 mb Max sustained: 125 mph

With recon done I doubt there are any new updates to intensity outside of whatever they decide at 2am.

Not sure how much time it has left, but it’s really trying to intensify.

Given how light the wind was, even if it missed by a touch I would bet it doesn’t make much of a difference.

Center sonde has a 954mb reading with 6kt wind so despite the satellite appearance, it hasn’t translated into strength in a substantial way yet. Obviously still need to see the SW and NE quadrants.

Not impossible given the dropsonde just before landfall, but there’s going to be an extensive review of all the data and observations to determine the final intensity of this one. This may very well be the strongest Atlantic hurricane in recorded history.

Thanks. Maybe it’s a mid level feature working its way down. That radar and the rapidly improving IR would suggest that Melissa is reorganizing rapidly. Will take a bit to intensify imo, and nothing meaningful will happen intensity wise if the eyewall isn’t fully closed.

Very interesting and conflicting data. This was from the VDM. Very quick recon trip. Remarks Section - Additional Remarks... SLP EXTRAP FROM 12000 FT PA NO EYE EVIDENT ON RADAR

The satellite improvement happened FAST

I have a non-chaser friend in Montego Bay. Right near the water. They are safe, but the first floor of their place was wrecked by the wind.

The collapse of FL winds and the central pressure rising 60mb says it all. At least for now. The 5pm discussion mentions that the intensity estimate was “highly uncertain”. I doubt the winds are that high looking at that first round of data but recon is finding it just as it exits Jamaica. IR is already improving so we’ll see what it can do the next ~8 hours. The core looks intact enough for a reorganization & intensification phase.

Recon is in there (only one flight from what I see) and it looks like the center weakened substantially based on initial data. 952.8mb extrapolated.

Landfall expected around 2am. Not a ton of time to reorganize and intensify, but we’ll see what recon finds.

The next recon flight is in the air and will be able to sample Melissa a bit after it emerges from land.

The center is starting to or will imminently emerge back over the Caribbean. Clearly, the trek over Jamaica has disrupted the structure. I'll note however that there is still very strong outflow evident in all quadrants, deep convection surrounding the center, and relatively low wind shear. The radar that @klw is useful to an extent in showing the degradation of the inner core but given the factors I just mentioned we should watch what happens in the coming hours as this fully emerges and has time to potentially reorganize.

Ah, I was referring to radar for low level structure. It’s really hard getting regional radars.

Can you post? I can’t get the regional radars to work.

C4 now

Looks like the center is near the coast now, so we’re going to find out soon just how intact that core still is.

Live cam of Montego Bay looks even more ferocious now.

The live feed looks fierce right now.