Former Hurricane Melissa, one of the strongest Atlantic storms on record, weakened after leaving a trail of devastation across Caribbean islands.

The National Hurricane Center's 10 a.m. Friday update reported that Category 1 Hurricane Melissa is in the Atlantic Ocean, 255 miles north of Bermuda. Packing maximum sustained winds of 90 mph, the hurricane is tracking to the northeast at 41 mph. Melissa is forecast to become an extratropical cyclone.

Melissa began affecting the southeastern Bahamas on Wednesday, according to the National Hurricane Center in Miami. Authorities in the Bahamas were evacuating dozens of people from the archipelago’s southeast corner ahead of Melissa’s arrival as a Category 1 storm.

Search and rescue efforts stretch into a third day after Hurricane Melissa made landfall in Jamaica as one of the strongest Atlantic storms on record. Nearly a half million people on the island remain without power.

The National Hurricane Center's 1 p.m. Thursday update reported that Category 2 Hurricane Melissa is in the Atlantic Ocean, 605 miles southwest of Bermuda and 295 miles northeast of the Central Bahamas. The hurricane is moving north-northeast at 21 mph, with maximum sustained winds of 105 mph.

Hurricane Melissa tore a path of destruction across Jamaica after the storm made landfall on Tuesday as a Category 5 hurricane, one of the most powerful landfalls on record in the Atlantic basin.After lashing Jamaica with dangerous winds and flooding rain,

Melissa is now a Category 1 moving through the Bahamas after the storm made a historic landfall in Jamaica as one of the strongest Atlantic hurricanes in history.

Article last updated: Tuesday, Oct. 28, 2025, 1 a.m. ET