DAYTON — Hello, everyone! I hope your week is going well. Meteorologist Nick Dunn here with you on what has been a rather grey and damp day here in the Miami Valley. There was some pretty big news in the weather world yesterday that I thought was pretty interesting to share with you!
While the Atlantic Hurricane Season has been quiet so far, the bigger story comes from Hurricane Melissa last month in Jamaica. There was a gust at 657 feet measured at 252 miles per hour. It was not confirmed at the time of the measurement in the southeastern eye wall as data needed to be validated.
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It turns out that this gust was confirmed yesterday by scientists at the U.S. National Science Foundation National Center for Atmospheric Research, University Corporation for Atmospheric Research, and other affiliated organizations. Analysis of data collected from a dropsonde confirmed the wind gust as legitimate and valid.
A dropsonde is an instrument that measures wind, temperature, pressure, and dewpoint that is dropped from NOAA Hurricane Hunters as they fly through the storm. It gathers that data from the drop point down to when it hits the water (in this case, the ocean).
So, I did some digging to find the strongest measured gusts on Earth! Melissa ranks as the 2nd strongest on Earth, and the top gust measured in an Atlantic Hurricane. It is worth noting that there was a radar derived gust of 321 miles per hour in 1999 during the Moore, Oklahoma F5 tornado. The key here is that it was derived from radar and not measured by any sort of weather instrument from inside an event, so that gust is not the strongest recorded.
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Another stat that may not be quite as jaw dropping is we remain at zero hurricanes to hit the United States this season. Barring anything extreme, that should hold true through the end of the month. The last time that happened? We have to go back to the 2015 Hurricane Season. That is interesting, but proves that it can happen!
