A writer and a tropical muse. A funky Lubavitcher who enjoys watching the weather, hurricanes, listening to music while enjoying life with a sense of humor and trying to make sense of it all!
Friday, October 31, 2025
No More Melissa. NHC Shut the Door on That Relationship! Flooding in Brooklyn Yesterday (with Rains Enhanced by Melissa) Killed 2 People Trapped in Their Basement. Is the SW CAG Setting Up?
In Miami we would say
Melissa is no mas!
No more.
NHC done pulled the plug!
Still weather...
..and some of her weather
got sucked off towards NY NJ NE
helped enhance those crazy rains.
Yesterday's Mimic.
Barry's remnant rain fed the Texas Flooding tragedy.
Melissa's fed the deadly flooding in NY.
Bookends on the season...
..unless Nestor forms somewhere.
Bottom Line:
Flooding kills.
Even in Brooklyn...
2 men died yesterday.
In 2 separate basements
in Brooklyn.
Reminded me of post Ida remnant flooding.
https://gothamist.com/news/man-dies-after-being-trapped-in-flooded-brooklyn-basement-during-thursdays-storm You have a flash flood, you're in the basement and it's very hard to get out.
You can Google it.
But in reality flooding kills.
In Jamaica and in Brooklyn.
Western North Carolina
At least 50 have died from Melissa.
Many missing the death toll with rise.
So as there is no more Melissa.
I'm taking a break today.
Honest!
Clear sunny weather in most of the South.
Good part of the country.
Diving front with a high behind it.
Digging in....
Pushing Melissa away.............
........and bringing us cool, delightful weather!
So I'm taking a break. I put up dinner in the crock pot (because it's Fall) and enjoying the changing colors on the various trees near my house. And, to be honest I am watching the Hallmark Channel. You know why? Because you know they will always have a happy ending! Need to just unwind, not look at the death toll in Jamaica climb and will think about what's down in the deep SW Carib that may or may not try to develop. Lots of talk, but I think it's too soon to talk just yet.
Prayers for Jamaica...
Mike of Mike's Weather Page :) uses this link and so I'm putting it at the top of my list.
So that's it! Have a beautiful weekend. As we move into November.... we watch the tropics and the cold fronts. And, Thanksgiving is less than a month away!
Find some Candy Corn. Mini Apple Pies at Trader Joes. Frosted Pumpkin Cupcakes! Happy Halloween! Tho I'm watching a Hallmark Channel Movie because the whole entire town is covered in snow ... white snow and it's so beautiful. It was cooler in Raleigh this morning than where my daughter lives in Monsey NY and colder than friends in Baltimore. So maybe this is the year for snow.....
105 MPH Melissa is On Her Way Away...... Still Going Strong Tho! Thoughts on Melissa and Are We Done With Hurricane Season? Cool Air For Halloween!!
I cut the top off as she's off to Europe.
Tomorrow she will be East of OBX
Tomorrow evening she'll be E of Maine!
The thought occured to me late last night that Melissa had two modes. Messy and tilted and disorganized and Super Duper OMG Major Hurricane. As if there was no in between. One or the other. Early life she was a wild, messy child with a filthy room and with her clothes scattered everywhere. As an grown adult she was a perfectionist and no matter what life through at her she intensified and pulled it all together again. She also had 2 speeds. Melissa either moved ridiculously slow, crawling around, meandering as the NHC struggled to find new ways to say "she's barely moving" at 2 MPH, 3 MPH then 2 MPH. Once she made landfall in Jamaica she sped up some, moved faster towards Cuba, shot off to the Bahamas and is now on her way NNE to being a large, sprawling post tropical storm.
Large, sprawling Melissa.
Hurricanes go wide...
...they unwind across the Atlantic.
Mimic shows this....
Her signature is huge... vertical.
On the West of her there's blue ....
...cooler, drier air.
Even all the way down to the tropics.
That's the job of a hurricane.
To move air from the equator to the poles!
Bonus is cool air is released down to tropics.
And is the season over?
Yes and no.
Not over til November 30th...
Most likely....
...but can't rule out something
in the SW Carib
from the CAG
Maybe.
Maybe once things settle down...
..and the basin relaxes some after Melissa.
Nestor is the next name up.
Some models try to spin things up in the CAG
(note they been trying for a while but nothing did)
Any wave that moves West is going to get sucked up...
...into Melissa's wake.
In theory.
Last thoughts today on now speedy Melissa...
As I wanted the other day.
People online were saying it wasn't a Cat 5
while it was making landfall.
it was upsetting for me.
Add in odd AI fake pics posted....
Here's a post, he's been there
before, during and after.
Watch his video documenting Melissa
After the Storm
I really believe her slow movement before landfall..
....may have helped save lives.
That li'l extra time to find safety.
Chasers stay and try to help ....
compelling post from @Jeff_Piotrowski
Trying to get help for an injured person!
From @icyclone below...
...a field correspondent for @weathernation
Documenting the destruction...
....is a big part of "chasing" the storm.
Details, facts....
Documenting history and Melissa was historic!
Knowledge is power.
Hopefully someone watches this...
...thinks twice before refusing to evacuate.
Over 100 people died in Ian.
Many on Fort Myers Beach
A long road out in the Gulf...
....and miles of marsh before that.
So let's hope that never happens again!
Please give donations to reliable charities...
...whatever you can.
Multiplied by many
It becomes much more!
Will link some links tomorrow
As images come out...
..we learn the true story.
Sweet Pumpkin Dreams,
BobbiStorm
@bobbistorm on X
X mostly weather
Elsewhere whatever...
Ps when I was young I had to learn a ...
...dance routine to this spooky classic ;)
Always a favorite!
This is where Melissa is this morning.
She's moving FAST UP, UP & AWAY
This image is from www.windy.com
This is tomorrow.
Halloween.
Top right li'l orange ball..
Melissa in the N Latitudes.
On the back side to the left....
...we have cool Autumn air
Moving down to Florida.
Always www.windy.com
Melissa helped give the US East Coast and down through Florida a Hallowen Treat! Really, walking around on a hot night going door to door for candy isn't as fun as you think ...if you grew up in Miami you'd know. Halloween is a pumpkin, candy corn and the feel of the seasons changing.
Hurricane Season is indeed changing and it's on it's way out like Melissa.
Josh @icyclone gave us a treat this Halloween as he posted finally last night after a tortuous wait to hear he is indeed safe...as I told people he'd be... but true confessions until I read one of his post chase posts I can"t really exhale. He's smart, he's savy and he doesn't take as many chances as some might think as he mentioned before the storm he rethought his plans over and over. There's a need to be in the eye or eyewall for him, but a need for safety as well. That said we are all happy and the world is a way better place with him in it. One thing I adore about him is that he doesn't apologize for who he is and what he does and it's his life and his choice how he lives it! Luckily, he takes us all along for the ride!
Melissa & Cuba. After the Storm For Jamaica Very Hard... Damage, Deathtoll Climbs & Much Destruction. Melissa Bahama Bound Next
Still going strong I see...
Where is Melissa now?
Where and when is she going....
Experimental Cone good for that.
Florida got very lucky.
Very.....
The cold front that is protecting the US
As clear to see as Melissa.
Still sucking up moisture from below.
Keeping her going on her journey.
I went out today and took a break from being online, from social media and basically from Melissa. Sometimes we need to clear our head. Had a Pecan Cortada from Starbucks and sipped my way through the Mall that's already decorated for the holidays which make me happy. Stared at my reflection in a big ornament on a tree nearby. I felt like a child almost. We all need to take breaks sometimes for our own mental health. Waiting for reports and video and realizing Melissa was still battering Cuba before moving on to the Bahamas. The death toll with be high when you add in the deaths in Haiti and the Dominican Republic early on before the Cat 5 landfall in Jamaica. The injured who need help is enormous and doesn't make the news. Homeless people whose homes were destroyed need help. The beautiful paradise island will need help and I am sure help is coming as many faith based groups are already on their way and I believe the Cajun Navy went down to ride out the storm and be on the ground immediately to survey what would be needed the most. If you know of a charity that you are familiar with that is reliable, please donate what you can...even small amounts added up collectively make a difference.
2 PM Info on Melissa!
Melissa definitely a long tracker.
Short term track above.
Melissa did a deadly, destructive horrific job on Jamaica. Horrible destruction and debris littered everywhere at landfall. Lots of small towns and villages up in the mountains, it will take time to hear from and get the full picture of what went on there. The airport looks like one of those "Abandoned Jamaica" sites on Instagram. Empty chairs, ceiling tiles down, water pouring through and very trashed in many ways.
The power grid there is down. Info is slow to come and facts are few and far between, though throughout the day today more news will come out. Amazingly very fake AI pics were passed around immediately (think before you repost) and sad to not be able to trust the flow of images and vidoes (some from Beryl) being shown.
2nd largest city in Cuba was hit by Melissa as a Category 4. Hard to get real news or stories from Cuba though they tend to come out later in various ways. Sandy hit this same region and it was devastating. Melissa was strong.
What will be in the Bahamas, who knows...but they've had plenty of time to prepare.
My hope is that people will learn lessons from this and from how people survived and how people died. What to do and what not to do. For example many deaths in Florence and Matthew in NC were from people in the dark moving barricades in roadways because they wanted to go check on someone or just wa nted to use that road and ended up dead in the middle of the night as the car went underwater. Barricades are there for a reason. A lesson many learned here and hopefully will not happen again.
But the survival stories may teach others in other hurricanes how to survive such a Major blow, tho it' rare to have such a Cat 5.
Adding this in from www.crownweather.com as he carefully said today what we were all dealing yesterday in the light of very little news from Jamaica yet what looked like incredible drone photos and imagery released online. As I said yesterday, "pics for clicks" as well as old video from Hurricane Beryl on Jamaica not Melissa. Check out his site, subscribe if you like as he's an awesome meteorologist. You can check him out on X and other sites online as well. I agree and I'm trying hard not to share images or videos that are fake. Melissa was not fake, she was a catastrophic rare strong Cat 5 making multiple landfalls in the Caribbean as opposed to strong Cat 5 Hurricanes dancing out in the distant Atlantic. Melissa was not fake, no fake images should be shared especially by people asking for donations for their sites.
@crownweather
"A word of caution when viewing the pictures and videos coming out of Jamaica and eastern Cuba – Use a lot of skepticism when you see them. Fake, AI-generated photos and videos of the hurricane damage have been rampant. It’s been tough for me to discern what is real and what is fake, so I’ve been trying to use reputable sources, including the chasers that were in Jamaica. The verified photos and videos from Black River, St. Elizabeth and Montego Bay do show extreme amounts of damage, including videos of some of Black River being leveled and completely destroyed. Sadly, I think that we are only see a very small percentage of the actual destruction that has occurred & it’s probably going to be several more days until we realize how bad the damage actually is across western Jamaica."
Speaking of Tampa here's an image of models, so you can see this is really going out to sea after Cuba and after the Bahamas and possibly after Bermuda but she's gone, gone, gone.
Sadly....it'll take a long, long time for Jamaica to recover and all the islands in her path. Tired of hearing "doesn't look so bad to me" while they sit in their chair, stuffing snacks in their mouth and they are a distant expert at damages on the ground far away in Jamaica. There are a lot of people like that. They are usually bitter, not happy people and they spew information around without seeing real images, being on the ground or believing anything. There's been flooding, raging flash floods and mud sliding down hillsides washing away whatever it could grab. Buildings have collapsed. People have died. Not every Cat 5 has to look as if the island was obliterated by a Nuclear Bomb. Seen damage up close after Cat 5 Hurricanes, Cat 4s and other Majors and it's amazing how much is standing and how much was taken gone with the wind.
There's weird science in hurricanes. One of my best friends lived down by where Andrew made landfall, his house was crazy ravaged and barely liveable yet as we were walking through the debris he showed me that all the pictures on the walls in the hallways and the bedrooms were left as if there had never been a breeze let alone a hurricane. A friend who was into "weird science" explained to us the wind came in from one side and whipped around the wall and everything on that wall so fast it left all the pictures hanging straight, the rest of the rooms were trashed. Drawers were ripped from dressers the contents tossed about the house as the sun shone through the broken roof. Bizarre stuff after Andrew. Bizarre stuff after a hurricane!
There's buildings that were built with little regard for tropical weather; cute arch ways and features are cute in New England that the wind grabbed off and then the successive gusts raged through the house and the gabled rooftops took flight. Amazingly other homes across the street were built by a different builder, a rectangular one story house CBS construction house with less windows were sitting there looking as if they went through a Major Hurricane but they survived with minimal damages. My father testified as a Master Appraiser BEFORE Andrew that the Country Walk Subdivision would not make it through a hurricane and he was right. Also placement of the homes in a subdivision matter; corner homes were ripped apart and yet the homes in the middle of the block suffered through Andrew "better" tho the street signs were blown away with the lights and most of the trees.
Jamaicans are wonderful people and they have amazing spirit and are not the type of people who make fun of others who are sitting faraway laughing how there's no way that was a Cat 5!
As we say in Miami "yeah, no" and in a way I feel sorry for people who are so bitter that they spew bitterness across the Internet.
And yet............there are many amazing, awesome people who worked together in private groups sharing information. Trying to get help to those who might need. Kind, caring and fairly awesome. Glad I was in such a group today. Sorry I watched some online that upset me with their negativity and bitterness and odd attempts at humor during a deadly tropical tragedy.
do a great job with a LIVE video on X (also YT) sharing information and calmly, covering the historic hurricane while taking time to reach out to people in the YT chat and discuss their thoughts or questions. I don't know him personally, nor the people he works with, tho I know people who respect him greatly so I watched. Well done.
Lastly, Brian Shields who "covers the Caribbean" and is in Jamaica does an amazingly good job of providing information without hype and giving advice and suggestions on how to stay safe if you are in a home that the roof is failing and how to cover your head or find things nearby to protect you. Something I learned with small kids in hurricanes, always keep your shoes on. Everyone must have shoes on (in Miami we all walk barefoot most the time on the cool Cuban Tile floors) and know where anything you need is so that in an emergency it's close by.
His video is below. Worth a watch and he talks on Cuba and the the Bahamas as those are the next travel destination on Melissa's Tropical Vacation.
Didn't mean to go long but in awe of the kind, good people sharing information that is carefully vetted vs people who are in a rush to either share fake AI pics for clicks and to make fun of a violent disaster because they dont' think it's a disaster enough. Choose your friends wisely as they tend to rub off on you!
I'm done for today unless...
...Melissa gets stronger
Or something happens..
Be safe...
Be Well..
Be Kind
Beware those fake AI videos ;)
BobbiStorm
Map below shows where she made landfall.
A bit of a before travel video ....
....gives you a feel for the land.
The people, variety of homes.
Life before Melissa
I'll update after 5 PM.
Many buildings have been destroyed.
A medical center
Noon
Waiting on NHC confirmation of Landfall...
....recon had to turn around again.
Stronger than usual turbulence!
Protocal makes them return to base...
...check for any possible problems.
Song for the day... posting here.
Melissa making landfall slowly
Well sped up to 9 MPH NNE
11 AM
185 MPH Winds!
A Major in Cuba as well...
Sped up to 9 MPH NNE
What Category Major does Cuba get?
She's close to landfall now.
Hope & pray ppl stay inside by the eye.
Or don't venture away from where they are..
Daytime hurricane... people want to see.
Dangerous.........
Waiting on NHC confirmation of Landfall.
Center of the eye has to be there...
@icyclone checked in from Jamaica
Wind wild, he's next to where he's staying.
Riding out the Historic Hurricane.
Remember this is not just about Jamaica
or Cuba
or the Bahamas
Currently....Bermuda in it!
Hurricanes are part of the process of moving the air around the planet and after Melissa storms it's way up into the North Atlantic, more Winter like Arctic air is often released down into our latitudes in the USA. Again they transfer energy from the equatore to the Poles. Keeps Planet Earth a beautiful place to live. But at some point if you live in the tropics you may get a visitor that you did not wish to ever host. Just saying.
Woke up this morning to this.
Devil at Dawn was my 1st thought.
10 AM Update.
185 MPH Winds! 892 MB.
Message from NHC:
Winds higher... pressure lower. at 11 winds could be higher. often go up with pressure dropping.
Will update after 11 AM!
keep reading as it's recent. Melissa is mind-blowing!!
9 AM Update after Recon found... ....stronger winds
Hurricane Melissa
180 Winds 896 Pressure
Strengthening on landfall!
Lessons from this Tragedy I hope.
Lessons for 2026 & beyond....
1) "take the time right now to note the items ...
...around you that can keep you safe
if your structure falls"
Thank you Brian Shields for reminding people.
2) Places in the direct path of Melissa.
Hanover.
St. James.
Trelawny.
St. Ann.
Westmoreland.
St. Elizabeth.
Manchester.
Clarendon.
Posted this on X earlier.
I will update after the 11 AM.
There is so much to say and yet words cannot convey the hurricane horrors happening along the SW Coast of Jamaica as her surge surges, her winds go wild, her barometric pressure dropping... see small round "core" that will move over ALL of Jamaica. Haiti, further to the East getting relentless weather and there will be horrific, deadly mudslides there.
Cuba not far to her North is her next adventure. Beyond that the Bahamas in the Cone & Bermuda waits to see if it really makes another landfall on their little island in the large ocean. Melissa is a monster on multiple levels. The last time you will see this name used on a hurricane list, that I can promise you.
But years from now when you are watching another powerful Cat 5 form in the Caribbean you will hear over & over "well Melissa......." as her name is now a part of the Hurricane History.
Location: Miami, Raleigh, Crown Heights, Florida, United States
Weather Historian. Studied meteorology and geography at FIU. Been quoted in Wall Street Journal, Washington Post & everywhere else... Lecturer, stormchaser, writer, dancer. If it's tropical it's topical ... covering the weather & musing on life. Follow me on Twitter @ https://twitter.com/#!/BobbiStorm
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