After briefly intensifying to a Category 4 storm at 0300 UTC (between Jamaica and Cuba), Hurricane #Melissa later made landfall in Cuba as a Category 3 storm at 0710 UTC. The peak wind gust at Guantanamo (MUGM) was 75 kts (86 mph) at 0623 UTC.

The Advanced Dvorak Technique (ADT) satellite-derived intensity estimate peaked at 185 knots for #Melissa -- which, according to the developer at CIMSS, is the highest value to date for any tropical cyclone.

1-minute #GOES19/#GOESEast Visible images showed that soon after making landfall, the eye of Hurricane #Melissa became cloud-filled as the storm interacted with higher terrain on the western edge of Jamaica.

1700 UTC #GOES19/#GOESEast Visible and Infrared images, with plots of GLM Flash Points. https://t.co/iHFwHNmiyx

According to NHC, #Melissa made landfall along the SW coast of Jamaica at 1700 UTC.

Animation will be updated as Melissa makes landfall:

1-minute #GOES19/#GOESEast Visible and Infrared images with plots of GLM Flash Points showed prolific lightning activity within the inner eyewall of Category 5 Hurricane #Melissa as it approaches the SW coast of Jamaica. Low-altitude mesovortices persist within the eye.

Sunrise on Category 5 Hurricane #Melissa south of Jamaica -- 1-minute #GOES19/#GOESEast Visible and Infrared images showed a nice "stadium effect" with the eye, and GLM Flash Points highlighted abundant lightning activity within the inner eyewall.

More imagery and details available on the CIMSS Satellite Blog:

1-minute #GOES19/#GOESEast Infrared and Visible images revealed the well-defined eye of Hurricane #Melissa, which reached Category 4 intensity southeast of Jamaica at this morning at 1200 UTC. Low-altitude mesovortices within the eye were apparent in the Visible imagery.

As of 0300 UTC, Hurricane #Melissa continued to rapidly intensify southeast of Jamaica, and had reached Category 3 intensity -- a cloud-cleared eye was trying to form, as seen in 1-minute #GOES19/#GOESEast Infrared imagery + GLM Flash Points.

Updated animation: the large convective burst that began around 2000 UTC has nearly wrapped completely around the center of Hurricane #Melissa as of 2300 UTC.

Coldest cloud-top infrared brightness temperatures within each of the series of convective bursts (during the 11-hour period shown) has been in the -90 to -95C range (darker shades of purple).

1-minute Mesoscale Sector #GOES19/#GOESEast Infrared images + GLM Flash Points showed #Melissa as it intensified from a Tropical Storm to a Hurricane at 1800 UTC. Since that time, a large convective burst developed and wrapped around the eastern semicircle of the hurricane.

Cloud-top infrared brightness temperatures of convective overshooting tops closer to the center of #Melissa have been as cold as -96.57ºC.

24 hours of 1-minute #GOES19/#GOESEast Infrared images + GLM Flash Points showed that while the areal coverage of deep convection associated with Tropical Storm #Melissa has been increasing, it still remained displaced to the east of the storm center (due to westerly wind shear).

It's the 50th Anniversary of the launch of GOES-1! Check out this blog post celebrating 50 @NOAASatellites GOES loops, one for each state!

ICYMI, satellite signatures of the SpaceX Starship Test Flight 11 on Monday evening (13 October) can be seen on the CIMSS Satellite Blog: https://t.co/xEimem8460

More images and info on the CIMSS Satellite Blog:

Water Vapor images from #GOES18/#GOESWest with plots of 30-minute peak wind gusts showed ex-typhoon #Halong as it approached Alaska - notable peak gusts included 80 kts/92 mph at St. George in the Bering Sea and 75 kts/86 mph at Cape Newenham on the SW coast of Alaska. #AKwx