Hurricane Melissa’s exact width can vary depending on how you define “width” (the eye diameter, the overall storm cone, or the span of tropical-storm-force winds). Reliable measurements from recent updates indicate:
- Eye width: The storm’s eye has been reported as very small at times, with estimates around 10 to 20 miles (roughly 16 to 32 kilometers) in various advisories, though these figures can fluctuate as the storm intensifies or changes structure. This small eye size is consistent with some of the most intense, compact hurricanes on record.
- Overall storm size: The radius of tropical-storm-force winds and the outer extent of hurricane-force winds can extend well beyond the eye, sometimes several hundred miles from the center, depending on the storm’s outer bands and environmental conditions. This means the practical “width” of the system, if measured by wind field extent, can be hundreds of miles across.
Key context and implications:
- The storm rapidly intensified and organized into an extremely powerful hurricane, with the most dangerous impacts tied to its slow movement and the width of its wind and rain bands rather than just the eye size. When a hurricane is compact, the most destructive winds are focused near the core, but heavy rainfall and storm surge can still extend far from the center, producing widespread hazards over Jamaica, Cuba, and nearby regions.
- For safety and preparedness, rely on official National Hurricane Center advisories and local emergency management guidance for current wind radii, rainfall forecasts, and surge potential, since these figures update continually as Melissa evolves.
If you want, I can pull the latest official measurements (eye diameter and wind-field radii) from live advisories to provide a precise figure and present it in a concise summary.
