#HurricaneMelissa's 252-mph wind gust sets new record
A weather instrument dropped from a Hurricane Hunter plane during Hurricane Melissa measured the highest winds on record for such an instrument.
By Jesse Ferrell, AccuWeather meteorologist and senior weather editor
Published Nov 20, 2025
Excerpt: "The 252-mph wind gust measured by the dropsonde in Hurricane Melissa was recorded at 827 feet (250 meters) above the ocean on Oct. 28, the same day Melissa made landfall in Jamaica as a Category 5 storm. The previous record for a dropsonde measurement was 248 mph, taken during Typhoon Megi over the Western Pacific in 2010.
"Because the reading wasn't taken at the Earth's surface, it does not count officially in the World Meteorological Organization's world wind records. The official world wind record remains 253 mph, clocked by an automated weather station during Tropical Cyclone Olivia on April 10, 1996, at #BarrowIsland, Australia. The wind record for the Northern Hemisphere is 231 mph at #MountWashington, New Hampshire.
"While a wind speed of 302 mph was recorded by a Doppler radar in 1999 during a tornado in Oklahoma, that measurement also occurred above the Earth's surface and is not recognized in the official WMO records."
Read more:
https://www.accuweather.com/en/weather-news/hurricane-melissas-252-mph-wind-gust-sets-new-record/1836720
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